One
O.N.E.
“Back To Basics,
That ain’t cool.
Back to thinking
I’m a fool.”
“Back to Basics” by Alpha Centauri
We probably looked like the biggest morons standing there with sweaty hands and faces pressed against the large displays windows of the biggest music store in town, eyes unnaturally bulging and mouths hanging open like thirsty fish. Every girl in the city is here, as nervous and excited as the next. We are here for one thing, united for one purpose: Alpha Centauri.
You heard me. Alpha Centauri—as in the biggest pop boy band in music history. Duh!
If you, for whatever weird reason, don’t know who they are, then it’s safe to say that A.) You’re an outdated, overweight loser living in your parents’ basement watching Seinfeld reruns or B.) You’re an alien from some unknown planet where Alpha Centauri is irrelevant. Ohmygosh. Living in a place like that? Sucks to be you, I guess.
But for girls like us, dedicated fangirls who do whatever it takes to support our boys no matter what people say, think, and do, this is our way of showing them how much we care about them. This is our mission, folks.
“What time is it?” someone asked. We all closed in around the entrance of Music Is Might. Through the windows, we glued our eyes to the flashing dashboard above the EXIT sign on the other side of the store: 11:57 PM. Only three more minutes to go for the sour-faced employees stacking the last of the albums on the long tables in front of the cardboard cutout of our boys. My future husband, Eden Sioux, stood in the middle in a bright green T-shirt and khaki shorts with his arms slung around the shoulders of his two older and taller bandmates.
“Only three more minutes to go!” another girl announced from somewhere in the growing crowd.
We flattened ourselves against the building, and I felt the metal handles digging into my ribcage. “In one hundred and eighty seconds, the album drops officially! You know what to do from there, ladies!”
I impatiently wiped the film of nervous sweat off my lip as the crowd burst into happy squeals and giggles. One hundred and eighty seconds? No problem-o. I’ll wait a century if that’s what it takes. Several moments later, the Betas fell into quiet intensity. Ugh. Can’t they have some compassion and let us in early?
Today is May Twenty-ninth—the day their long-awaited debut album, Seeing Stars, hits stores nationwide. The Betas will be the first to snatch the copies and listen to every track until we know the lyrics by heart. We waited so long for this. Worked our fingers to the bone washing dishes, mowing lawns, and babysitting every ankle biter in town to raise enough money for this moment. Failure will not be tolerated.
Hayden Kelmer, my best friend, leaned over and squeezed my shoulders with a joyful yell. “You remember the plan? You know what to do when these doors open?”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Of course, I knew the plan. Doesn’t she remember all the training we went through to minimize mistakes? We organized drills twice a week with the fandom to ensure no beta got left behind in case of hiccups in the field. I remember all the details in my sleep: get in, subdue the employees, grab the goods, and run like there’s no tomorrow. Like a pack of rabid hyenas chasing you, with red and blue police sirens and shiny metal handcuffs. I quickly pushed the thought away and dried my sweaty palms on the front of my denim shorts.
Simple enough, right? I sucked in a breath of warm early pre-summer air. It’s not like anything can go wrong. We planned and trained for this.
Hayden cursed and rubbed her manicured hands together. “Ready?”
Her question was answered with a choir of ecstatic shouts and eager head nods. Good. A girl’s gotta do what she’s gotta do. This, ladies and gentlemen, is something that we girls must do.
11: 59 PM. My heart skipped a beat—only one more stupid minute to go. I beat my forehead against the glass double doors and groaned in frustration. Hayden leaned over and braced herself with a laugh as the crowd grew restless and started impatiently pushing forward.
No one said a word as the tension thickened. We watched the scowling employees unpack the last box of shirts and put them on another display table with the autographed posters. One even had enough nerve to roll her eyes at us before returning to her spot behind the glass counter by the cash registers. Stupid snob. I bet that platinum horsehair isn’t real—like the uneven stuffing in her bra. She looks so dumb walking around the store with her deformed boobs like Alice Wilkenson when she’s probably as flat-as-a-board as I am. What is she trying to show off?
Pfft. She’s not cute in any way: too short, square, artificially tanned to the color of a traffic cone, and stubbly tree trunk lets poking out of a dark green skort. Who wears skorts these days? It’s not like any guy will turn his head to look at her anyway.
“Come on!” Hayden cried and beat her fists against the door. “When are you gonna let us in? My eighteenth birthday?
A wave of nervous laughter swayed through the Betas. We gotta get our hands on the goods in there—and we’re not gonna let some miserable senior snobs get in our way. Not if we have anything to say about it. One of the girls, a slender redhead with a cakey, overdone face and thin arms, rounded the front of the counter with a key ring in her hands.
Yes! They’re finally gonna open the doors! We all screamed.
Tossing her frizzy orange hair, she tried striding towards us like a New York Runway Model.
I giggled and rolled my eyes. She looks ridiculous with her wobbly chicken legs and impish smile that, in her mind, seduces any man she comes across. Ugh. Haley Plum and Kyra Black would go into cardiac arrest.
“Zero outta ten,” Hayden whispered, shaking her head in disbelief. " The worst walk I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“Amen to that, sister!” an unknown Beta answered. More nervous laughter. “She’s walking like she tryna hold in a fart or something!”
I snickered under my breath. The Redhead stopped before us and jingled the keys in front of our faces. Ew. I hate her already. Who does she think she is trying to be the Boss Chick when she looks like a demonic leprechaun? Pfft. She must have terrible skin if she’s hiding behind so much NYMPH makeup. As if sensing our combined annoyance, Redhead laughed and tossed her hair like the lead model in a shampoo commercial. Ha. In your dreams, Brucella.
“Please,” Hayden scoffed. “Nasty skank. Not even a dog would lick this chick.”
“You want me to open the doors, right?” she asked with a growing evil smirk.
“Open the door, you ugly troll!” a random Beta shouted angrily. We all burst out laughing at her pissed off expression.
“It’s time to get in!” Our heads swiveled away from Redhead with collective screeches, and we pasted our eyes to the dashboard again. MIDNIGHT. I gasped. The moment of truth is finally upon us. Yes! A smile broke out on my face. Let the games begin—
—but Redhead only casually leaned against the door and faked a yawn. “Oh? Is it that time already?” she questioned in a bored tone. “I guess no one told you brats anything, huh?”
We all turned to look at each other questioningly, anxiously waiting for someone to answer the magic question. I groaned. Told us what? Are we playing 20 Questions or something? The girls behind the counters laugh, clearly getting a kick out of our cluelessness. I clenched my teeth together. What’s so funny? We did our homework, and we are here now. The right day, time, and store.
So what’s the big deal?
“So you gonna tell us what that ‘anything’ is?” Hayden snapped and shot her perfected mean girl glare. “It’s midnight now! Let us in loser!”
Unfazed by Hayden’s temper, Redhead let out a long, crackly laugh. What I’d give to roundhouse kick this chick and her bimbo friends in their throats right now. Who do they think they are?
“There’s been a change in plans,” she said and cleared her throat. “We’re not opening until twelve…thirty.”
The Betas immediately broke into discouraged gasps and heartbroken sobs. Twelve-thirty? We gotta wait another half hour to get our stuff? Where is the stupid manager? We didn’t wait a whole year to wait around some more. A. Whole. Freaking. Year. Who do these tramps think they are? They don’t own the store. I could feel the eyes quickly shift to Hayden and me as our fandom silently demanded a solution. But neither of us said anything.
My anger was boiling before the realization slowly dawned on me. My stomach nearly dropped to my knees.
Ohmygosh! Are these girls…Anti-Fans? Dang it, dang it, dang it! I remember getting warnings online from the other fandoms that this might happen. The fandoms of the lesser idol groups might tamper with Alpha’s album debut. No wonder they’re giving us a hard time. They’re trying to sabotage Alpha Centauri’s album sales! I felt the color suddenly drain from my face. Our boys have lots of enemies…wait a second.
My blood ran cold when I finally noticed the familiar logos printed on the front of their shirts and bracelets underneath their purple uniform vests. Oh…my…gosh. I mentally kicked myself. Boy Toy fans? With a ferocious growl, I dug my nails into the palms of my hands until the skin was punctured. They’ve crossed the line. Dang it! We should have seen this coming! We should have known their Legion of Losers would try to get in our way. Pathetic groupies!
I clenched my teeth until my jaw was throbbing.
“Girlfriends,” I spat the horrible fandom name and wrinkled my nose in disgust.
“I’m…I’m calling the police!” An outraged Beta shouted. A sparkly purple phone was thrust into the air. “This is so unfair! You witches won’t get away with this!”
“Go ahead,” Redhead responded. “What do we care? We work here so we decided what we wanna do. Besides, I’m sure the police will wanna know what you underaged brats are doing outside after hours without your parents.”
Crap. The gremlin has a point. If one of these losers calls the cops, it’s game over for us. How are we gonna support the boys then?
“Well…well…” The girl faded into silence.
The Betas burst into nervous twittering amongst us, eyes glittering with tears and bodies shaking with fear and frustration. We can’t let these stupid Boy Toy groupies get in our way. I have to do something, or the Betas will lose their morale. If we don’t do this, we’re messing it up for the other Betas across the country, and the Boys might flop. Then what?
I have to do something, or they’ll lose their morale. If we don’t do this, we’re messing it up for the other Betas across the nation, and the Boys might flop. Then what?
Think, Katie, think. I racked my brain for any ideas. Ugh. I hate feeling so powerless. This is bogus. You can’t lock out paying customers from a public place for no reason. But if anyone calls the cops, we get locked up, and our parents will ground us for life. Then we’ll never be able to support the boys again.
I wiped the hot tears away before the Girlfriends could see them fall. Instead, I raised my hands and flipped them off. Redhead shrugged and stuck her tongue out at me. Typical Girlfriend. They are constantly messing with the other fandoms just because their pathetic biases can’t be placed on the Billboard 200.
“Fine then!” Hayden declared. “You leave us no choice!”
The sobs and complaints suddenly died as all eyes zoomed in on Hayden. What is that supposed to mean? What is she gonna do? Run her brother’s convertible through the doors? Hmm…well, that’s not the worst idea at this point. It’ll give these losers something to talk about besides how much their surgeries cost their sick parents or who will take them to their last prom—which is nobody.
“Follow my lead, Betas!” Hayden ordered. “If it’s a fight they want, then it’s a fight they’re gonna get! They picked the wrong fandom to screw with!”
She started pounding her fists against the building. “Let us in! We’ve waited long enough! Let us in! We’ve waited long enough! Let us in! We’ve waited long enough!”
I smiled devilishly at Redhead’s surprised expression. Of course! Forget the stupid police. This is far more important—all or nothing. We’re gonna riot. Let’s see these bimbos stop us now.
I joined Hayden in her chanting. “Let us in! We’ve waited long enough! Let us in! We’ve waited long enough! Let us in! We’ve waited long enough!”
After a slight hesitation, the rest of the Betas joined in, beating their fists and stomping their feet while repeating after us. Redhead slowly backed away, looking back at her followers for help.
But Traffic Cone only exchanged eye rolls and scowls with the other Girlfriends. Oh? So it’s gonna be like that? Okay. It’s time to kick it up a few notches.
You asked for it, Boy Toy. “Louder!” I screeched and beat my fists as hard as I could. “Let them know you mean it! Show them you want it!” I brought my feet down to the ground and stomped in unison with the others. This means war. Boy Toy has nothing on Alpha Centauri.
“This is for Alpha!” I declared.
An explosion of cheers fell behind me, and my heart swelled with pride. If only the boys were here to see how much we care about them. Let’s do this. “LET US IN! WE’VE WAITED LONG ENOUGH! LET US IN! WE’VE WAITED LONG ENOUGH! LET US IN! WE’VE WAITED LONG ENOUGH! LET US IN! WE’VE WAITED LONG ENOUGH!”
The store employees looked stupefied and shaken. Let’s see if they’ll use their microscopic brains and realize that we’re not playing any games. Not today. Not when the boys need us to make their debut album sales legendary. Too much is on the line, and these groupies are not getting in our way.
I’ll be damned before Boy Toy beats Alpha Centauri.
We continued with our protests, screaming at the top of our lungs, pushing with all of our combined strength against the doors, and ignoring the outraged looks from occasional people driving by. Whatever. It’s not like they will understand what we’re here to accomplish. Our throats burned from so much screaming, our hands throbbed, and our feet were killing us, but we pushed on with all we had.
Please, God. Don’t let our boys flop because of these Anti-fans. Let us in, I snarled internally. If you ganks know what’s good for business.
12:21 AM. There go twenty-one minutes of our precious time—no thanks to these useless drag queens. “S-stop it!” Redhead shouted, but the outraged Betas drowned out her voice. “You’ll be sorry if you don’t!”
“You’re the one who’s gonna be sorry, puta!” Hayden growled through clenched teeth. “Chinga tú madre!”
Yup. It’s not a party unless a Latina curses you out in Spanish.
“Open the doors, groupies!” I shouted over the commotion. “You stupid Girlfriends are not gonna drag Alpha down! I’ll beat you black and blue if you don’t!”
“G-Girlfriends?” someone shouted. “Are you kidding? These sluts are Boy Toy fans?”
A cloud of curses, threats, and sobs followed my nod. “Betas! Take them down!” I shouted. The collected war cries behind me made my heart sing. The Girlfriends were frozen in fear as they watched us throw ourselves against the glass building, desperately punching and kicking our way in.
After several moments, the EXIT door was yanked open at the store’s back. A tall, elderly, African American security guard stepped inside in a rumpled, coffee-stained uniform with OTIS on his crooked name tag. He looked furious about the commotion and glared at us with squinted gray eyes. Well, excuse us for being mad. Blame your idiot co-workers for not letting us in. The girls at the counter immediately stiffened. They all looked at Redhead expectantly as if to say, ‘Okay! The joke’s over! You can open the doors now, sweetheart!’
Old Man Otis scowled as he shuffled towards Redhead, hands curled into bony fists at his sides. “What the hell are you doing, Daphne? Do you want to lose your job?” he roared.
I winced and bit my lip to keep from laughing. Daphne? A beautiful name on a girl like this? Ohmygosh. I wonder how her parents feel looking at their daughter daily and knowing she fell short of their expectations. Bummer. Old Man Otis snatched the keys from a shaking Daphne’s hands. “Do you wanna get fired? Why is there so much commotion when those doors should have been open almost an hour ago?”
We all snapped our heads to the dashboard again. 12: 50 AM.
You gotta be kidding me. Seriously? “You know we can get into serious trouble for this, right? Why must I fix this mess when caring for these people is your job? Have you all lost your minds?”
He pinched the bridge of his broad nose and angrily shook his head.
“And why couldn’t you jokers have half a brain to open the doors when this fool wasn’t doing her job as the supervisor?” Daphne murmured an apology and slowly backed away with her eyes downcast to the polished floors. Old Man Otis whipped his head around to glare at the Girlfriends huddled together at the registers.
They all dropped their eyes to the floor like Daphne. Old Man Otis sighed and approached the doors while studying our angry faces. “Let’s just get this over with. We’ll meet first thing tomorrow morning with the big boss to discuss the future of your employment here. Brats.”
Finally. I released a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding and peeked at Hayden, who stared unblinkingly at Old Man Otis. We stood like statues and watched the security guard find the right key on the keyring and insert it into the lock. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Here it is. The moment we’ve been waiting for. We all leaned forward as the old man unlatched the doors.
Click. The sound seemed to echo through the heavy silence. We all looked at one another one last time. Okay. So, we all heard it.
Go. We all stampeded forward like a herd of mad cows, throwing the heavy doors aside and rushing to quickly subdue Old Man Otis and the Girlfriends with duct tape and jump ropes. “Incoming!” Traffic Cone shouted and ducked under the counter, her skinny arms held up over her head as she broke out into pathetic sobs.
What a wimp. What did they expect when they picked a fight with Betas? Totally lame.
The staff screamed in unison before falling over, pitifully swinging their arms and legs in self-defense before being buried beneath a pile of angry Betas. With high-pitched battle cries, the rest of us charged toward the center of the store towards the displays, ducking through the maze of CDs, vinyl records, cassette tapes, VCR videos, and more.
“Leave nothing behind!” I instructed over the chaos. “The boys need us right now!”
“Geronimo!” Thump-thump. I see it now. The cardboard cutout of Alpha Centauri is a few feet up ahead. Shaking with stubborn gladness, I sucked in my breath, reared back on the balls of my feet, and jumped as far as I could. I cursed and crashed onto the display tables below, landing on the floor when they gave way under my weight.
I climbed to my feet and watched the mayhem in proud silence. Hands flew in all directions like manicured claws, screams and grunts of triumph and disappointment rang out, posters fluttering through the air as T-shirts and CDs littered the ground. We sang, cursed, shoved, laughed, and sobbed, but nobody stopped to check for injuries.
Then why am I standing around for? I grabbed all I could, picking up ragged T-shirts, crumpled-up autographed posters, and everything else under my arm. I tossed the items to Hayden, who shoved them into our backpacks, cursing loudly in Spanish when random Betas pushed her from different directions. “¡Estúpidas perras! ¡Ten cuidado con lo que estás haciendo!” She snarled and launched a deadly kick into a passing Beta’s rear end.
Ow. A pale hand grabbed my wrist tightly as I made a final grab for the cardboard cutout left on the display table. I scowled and turned to face my aggressor. For the love of God—
“Me first Holm!” she hissed, pushing her glasses up her fleshy nose. “I was here first, so I get to take this home!”
What. A. Fool.
When will Jennafer Brown realize that an actual Beta helps other Betas achieve the goal together? Selfish sheep. I’ll show her what happens when you grab the bull by its horns. I wrenched my arm out of her grasp and made another grab for the cutout. “We’re in this together, Brown!” I roared over the chaos around us. “Quit being selfish!”
The nerve of some people. Hayden and I are the ones who organized this in the first place, and this is the thanks we get for our hard work? A Beta is what she calls herself? Yeah right. Does Jennafer not see that the whole point is to make the album sales skyrocket in the shortest time possible? More successes mean more popularity and more fame means more public appearances. More public appearances equal more chances to meet them in person finally.
But no. Not when gap-toothed hillbillies like Jennafer Brown run around only looking out for themselves and their selfish desires. Not on my watch.
“Speak for yourself!” she snapped and shoved me back. “I came here for myself! Not you or anybody! So back off and let me get my stuff, you brat!”
I gaped at her. Me? A brat? She. Is. Done.
“Show her what happens when you betray the Betas Kat!” Hayden howled. With a wink, she jumped into a flurry of quarreling Betas. I shot Jennafer a conniving grin. You asked for it, Dear Jenny.
“Knock it off, Holm!” Jennafer snapped at me. “You’ll be sorry if you do something to me! I know where you live!”
Jenny, Jenny, Jenny. You should’ve played by the fandom rules. Too bad. Ignoring Jennafer’s looks of suspicion, I put my fingers to my mouth. I released a long whistle, cutting through the madness around me. Instantly, everybody froze and turned to us. I took a deep breath and put on my best Persephone act, pointing at Jennafer with a trembling finger. I let the tears flow freely down my face. “This g-girl…Jennafer Brown...is …a… secret Girlfriend! She’s against Alpha Centauri!”
A handful of angry shouts came afterward. “She hates Alpha Centauri and is only here to sabotage their album sales! Ohmygosh!” I threw in some hiccupping sobs and slowly backed away. “Why are people so mean?” I sobbed and covered my face with my hands to hide the growing smile on my face.
I should win an Oscar for my performance.
In seconds, Jennafer was surrounded by a handful of angry Betas circling around her, glaring intensely with violent hand gestures. “Come on, guys,” Jennafer said and rolled her eyes. “You guys aren’t seriously gonna hurt me, right? We all came for ourselves. No need to get so crazy for this stuff.” My heart skipped a beat. Jenny should have kept her big mouth shut.
The circling stopped. “Get that bitch!” the Betas shouted. Jennafer disappeared seconds later under a commotion of lipstick, skirts, and wild screams.
“Don’t let that puta get away with anything!” Hayden barked over the uproar. “Nothing at all!”
With a winning smile, I jumped back into action and took what was left. Mission complete, I thought and gestured wildly for the girls to follow us to the counters. “Throw the money on the table, and let’s go home! We’ve done good work today, ladies!” I was answered with a chorus of celebratory cheers, high fives, and thank-yous. I watched the line of Betas quickly empty their bags on the counter like a proud parent, a rain of crumpled bills and coins showering the struggling Girlfriends. Yes! We did it! Hayden shot me a thumbs-up.
“We pulled it off, Kat!” Hayden yelled and dragged me in a tight hug. I laughed and wiped the sweat from my forehead despite the slight tinge of annoyance. I hope our tardiness won’t dent the boys’ album sales.
“Wait for a second,” Hayden said slowly, breaking away from me.
“What is it?” I turned to where she was looking. My knees almost gave out when I realized what she meant. Daphne was missing.
My heart leaped into my throat. Where did that gremlin run off to? How long was she gone?
Hayden opened her mouth to warn the others, but the sounds of approaching police sirens in the air cut her off. Uh oh. We turned to look at each other, fear frozen on our faces.
“Run!” I shrieked.
“Mierda,” Hayden muttered and glared at the giggling Girlfriends still bound with tape and jump ropes. So, Daphne called the cops, did she? Fine. They can’t put us in jail if they miss us. In seconds, we scattered like cockroaches, overturning tables and knocking over the aisles in our clumsy attempt to flee the scene. We poured out onto the streets as their sirens grew closer in the distance.
“Scatter!” I ordered. “Hide if you have to! Get a ride with the other girls if needed! Do not get caught, or you’re screwed!”
Hayden grabbed my arm and yanked me towards the getaway car. “Vamonos Kat or we’re gonna get caught!”
We sprinted through the hysterical crowd towards the car and quickly jumped in with three other Betas piling into the back. “Let’s hope we get home safely,” one of them whispered as Hayden peeled out of her hiding spot and sped down the street to the safety of our homes.
