Intensity Read online

  “You mean by following tour buses and what not? You know as well as I do that it’s never worked for us before.” Celine walked over and plopped down on the inflatable couch. “Besides, we’ll be fighting fans as old as we are. I’m sure they’ll be using their connections to get backstage. If not, they’ve already learned from past experiences and probably will never try what we’ll be doing.”

  Ruthie knew it was risky trying to meet the band by following their bus but she needed to do it for the seventeen year old in her. “We’ll meet them. Watch. Then you’ll be the one thanking me.” Grinning, she added, “As for the other fans who won’t be trying, that’s plenty more chances for us winning in the end. We’re going to do it!”

  “Whatever you want,” Celine replied, waving her hand in the air.

  The twosome arrived at the concert venue and paused, stunned by the sight. Crowds and crowds of women around their age (and even some who were older) gathered around the entrance of the arena waiting to be let in. Most of the women were holding various posters, stuffed animals, and bouquets of flowers. A majority of them even donned old concert and fan t-shirts. Celine elbowed Ruthie and nodded her head in their direction. Ruthie followed her gaze and rolled her eyes. The whole arena could have been draped in Cash Walker’s face for all she cared. If she did meet him that night she wouldn’t be caught dead looking like an overly obsessed teenager. She tugged on Celine’s arm, “Let’s go, Weirdo.”

  They entered the arena and flashed their tickets to the usher proudly. They descended the long staircase to the orchestra pit and Ruthie couldn’t help but laugh along with her best friend. “This is going to be so awesome! Check out everyone’s faces! They wish they were us right now.” She glanced down at Celine’s shirt and said, “Or maybe not.”

  Ignoring her, Celine walked down the aisle and positioned herself in the center seat. She adjusted her shirt and quickly sat down. “Would you look at this place? We only ever dreamt of being this close!” she squealed excitedly. “Do you remember when our first concert tickets were just twenty bucks?”

  “Yup, and nosebleed at that,” Ruthie laughed, stuffing her ticket into her back pocket.

  Celine kept her eyes glued on the huge stage. Her heart thumped in her chest excitedly. “I’m still surprised that you didn’t wanna check out the tour buses outside. We always used to do that!”

  Clicking her tongue, Ruthie grunted, “You see, that was our biggest mistake! You have to wait until after the concert to sneak backstage. Can’t let them see our faces now. They’ll be watching for us later!”

  “Who’s they?” Celine asked skeptically.

  “Security!” Ruthie explained. Did she really have to teach Celine everything? “Just follow my lead later, okay? I’m going to get us backstage even if it kills us!”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Celine muttered.

  As if on cue, the lights began to dim. Ear piercing screams echoed through the arena, creating a rumbling within the packed place. There was not an empty seat in the house and everyone was practically jumping out of their seats. The sound was so deafening, it created a high pitched ringing in their ears.

  A cloud of fog began to grow on stage, working its way from stage right to stage left. As it began to rise, a bright green laser pierced the smoke, creating weird patterns in the air.

  “Oh my God!” Ruthie screamed. “This is it!”

  Celine kept her eyes glued to the stage and clapped her hands together excitedly. Her heart palpitations grew and she felt as if she were about to pass out.

  “The time has come!” A deep and almost robotic voice boomed across the arena’s loudspeakers. It was a wonder that it could even be heard above the chorus of screams.

  “Are you ready?”

  More screaming.

  “I don’t think you are.”

  Even louder screaming.

  The stage became immersed in multi-colored strobe lights, making the stage look like an amusement park on crack. Celine felt a need to grip onto the metal rail in front of her during the vertigo-inducing light show.

  “After ten long years the time has finally arrived! Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Intensity!”

  The lights all shut off and the anticipation began to grow inside the room. Just when the audience felt as if they couldn’t take the wait any longer, the huge screen onstage flashed an old photo of the band. Five grinning boys stared back at the audience; all decked out in matching baggy jeans and football jerseys. They were exactly how the women remembered them. Bright eyed and handsome. The picture suddenly morphed to show the band as they looked today. Despite the faint lines near their eyes and the mature look of their faces, the band still looked as heavenly as anyone would expect.

  “I can’t believe we’re here!” Ruthie squealed, joining Celine in her little jumps.

  “Best night ever!” Celine screamed in reply.

  A huge fiery explosion rocked the stage as electric sparks fell from the sky. Across the stage five silhouettes began to rise from beneath the stage. If the women thought the screaming couldn’t get any louder they were wrong. Ruthie felt as if she needed to clasp her hands over her ears to save her sense of hearing.

  The bass line began to hit and the beat began to drop. In perfect harmony the men began singing the first line of their hit, “Cruising for Your Love.” In fluid movements, the group began making their way to the front of the stage in perfect synchronization. Replacing their old school look of baggy clothes for more sophisticated tailored suits, the men proved they were like fine wine and were even better with age.

  Ruthie watched the men in awe, losing her breath once Cash Walker threw a wink in her direction. Celine was right. It really was the best night ever.

  Chapter 7

  “I can’t believe how wonderful the concert was!” Celine said dreamily. She clutched a neon green glow stick in her hand and waved it rapidly in front of her face. She quickened her steps in an attempt to catch up with Ruthie’s long strides as she was basically sprinting down the back sidewalk towards the back of the arena.

  “Of course it would be,” Ruthie replied, sounding preoccupied. She scanned the area looking for any open doors (or windows), unfortunately not seeing any. “Wow, guess security is really tight in this place,” she muttered.

  “What did you expect?” Celine snorted, eyeing the security guards. Their neon vests were a bit hard to miss, as were their walkie-talkies and Taser guns.

  Ignoring her, Ruthie replied, “I took the liberty of eyeing the security posts. I figured out that there are two guards on the south wing and three more towards the west. They switch posts every fifteen or so minutes.”

  Celine instantly stopped walking and looked at her friend incredulously. “You did what?”

  Ruthie nodded her head proudly. “There’s a loading dock on the south wing of this place that goes guardless for a thirty-second window. We just need to sneak in quickly and we won’t be caught.”

  “I don’t think figuring that out is something to be proud of,” Celine said in disbelief. “I sort of think it’s scary you even went that far.” She looked down at her shirt and mumbled, “And I thought I was the crazy fan.”

  Ruthie rolled her eyes. “Well, one of us had to do the work—”

  “Hey! Don’t pull that crap on me. We would have met the band already if you had agreed to Jayne’s offer!” Celine argued.

  Ruthie shook her head and chose not to acknowledge her. She pointed to the approaching corner of the building and said, “It should be around that corner. Stop complaining and let’s go! We don’t want to miss the tour buses!”

  “Do you really think they’ll just open the doors and let us in?” Celine huffed. “For a grown woman you’re holding on to such childish fallacies.” Ruthie chose not to respond and instead quickened her pace. “Hey, wait up!” Celine cried out.

  In a matter of seconds the two successfully made it to the edge of the building. Rounding the corner, they stopped dead in
their tracks. A crowd of women were scattered around the opening of the loading dock, where a brightly painted tour bus sat just a few feet inside. Surrounding the crowd were five mean-looking security guards.

  “Great,” Ruthie muttered, throwing her hands in the air.

  “Have any more bright ideas, Champ?” Celine teased.

  Shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath, Ruthie began to rack her brains. “Come on, Ruthie,” she mumbled to herself. “Think!”

  Just then, like some God given gift, a crowd of women on the left side of the dock began rushing the entrance. All five security guards automatically turned to subdue the impending hysteria. Without hesitation, Ruthie grabbed Celine’s arm and yanked her forward. “Come on! Let’s go while the guards are distracted!” Before Celine could protest, she found herself being dragged towards the entrance. They were both far enough away from the mayhem that the guards hadn’t yet noticed them and to their luck, they had come from the right, allowing them leeway to sneak past the guard’s turned backs.

  “Hey! They’re getting in!” a woman screamed in the crowd. Both women braced themselves, but fortunately the guards ignored the strange lady. Ruthie continued pushing forward, and to Celine’s surprise, they successfully made it inside the dock and quickly hid behind one of the bus’ giant wheels.

  Panting nervously, Celine whispered, “Now what? Are we going to try to sneak inside the bus? I hate to tell you, but the door is on the other side! If the guards didn’t see us before, they’ll sure see us trying to get on the bus.”

  Ruthie bit her lips as nerves engulfed her. They had both come this far–farther than they’d ever reached–and she wasn’t about to give up. Glancing up, she noticed a door perpendicular to them. Nudging Celine, she nodded her head towards the blue aluminum door. It had a single thin glass window towards the top and from where Ruthie was standing, she could make out an empty hallway behind it. “I think we should go through there,” she whispered.

  “What if it’s locked?” Celine whispered back. A drop of sweat rolled down her neck, pooling at the collar of her graphic tee. She was terrified and had no idea how Ruthie could be so calm. Celine was never one to seek out trouble. In fact, she hadn’t felt this anxious since her last speeding ticket.

  Ruthie shrugged. “There’s only one way to find out. Come on! The bus will block the guards from seeing us.”

  “What if there are more guards inside?” Celine whined.

  “There aren’t,” Ruthie answered, though she wasn’t too entirely sure. It didn’t matter to her either way. She’d hate herself if she didn’t at least try to sneak in. Convincing herself that the worst that could happen was getting kicked out, she trudged on.

  The two women tip-toed hurriedly to the door. Ruthie reached out and grabbed the metal door knob. Holding her breath, she slowly turned it, and to her pleasant surprise, the door opened with little effort. Giving Celine a smile, she stepped inside the brightly lit hallway and looked around. Realizing that Celine was still standing on the other side of the door, Ruthie quickly reached out and yanked her inside. “Stop stalling!” she hissed.

  “Ruthie, I’m not too sure about this. Isn’t this considered trespassing? This is a misdemeanor!” Celine yanked at the bottom of her T-shirt, gripping it nervously. In just a matter of seconds, Cash’s face was a wrinkled mess.

  “Okay, CSI,” Ruthie snapped, straightening her shoulders determinedly. “Stop being so anxious! We aren’t going to get in trouble. Take a look at this place, it’s empty!” She gestured towards the narrow hallway. The cement floor, though ominous in theory, was like a red carpet in her mind. It was a path to the promised land; they were almost there!

  “But you’re obviously looking for a place that’s not empty,” Celine reminded her. “I can almost guarantee that any room with Intensity in it will be guarded heavily.”

  “They’re not the President or anything,” Ruthie argued, staring down the hallway.

  “Close enough! Either way, we came this far, can’t we just turn around now.”

  “No! Like you said, we’ve already come this far. I’m not about to waste all our efforts because my best friend is acting like a chicken shit.”

  Ruthie took a step forward, listening for any signs of life. Each footstep seemed to echo loudly down the hall and it wasn’t long until Ruthie’s mind began playing tricks on her. Having always hated horror movies, the situation reminded her of an old slasher film. She didn’t want to admit it to Celine, but even she was starting to feel a bit uneasy. Shaking off the disturbing feeling, she continued on and was relieved when she finally heard Celine’s footsteps running towards her. Her best friend caught up to her and the two slowly made their way towards the end of the hallway where yet another door stood.

  “I guess this is the way to the inside of the arena,” Celine breathed, frowning at the door.

  “Ready?” Ruthie asked, an anxious smile on her face.

  “Not really,” Celine admitted.

  Taking a deep breath, Ruthie opened the door and to her relief (and dismay) she heard people talking inside. Pausing for a moment, she turned to Celine. “It’s now or never.”

  “I choose never,” Celine muttered, though she stepped inside without a fight. Her stomach was in knots and she reminded herself to make Ruthie pay for it later.

  That’s when they heard it; a voice that sounded like a million angels. It was both masculine and musical at the same time. The voice began to laugh as it grew closer to them. Both women stopped dead in their tracks and gasped when they spotted Cash walking closer to them. Like a Greek god, all his movements seemed graceful and ethereal. When he was about twenty feet away from them, he looked up and caught Ruthie’s eyes, momentarily frowning. Suddenly an amused expression washed over his face. It wasn’t long before he flashed them his A-List smile.

  Ruthie opened her mouth, but couldn’t get a single word out. After all those years planning on what she’d say during their first meeting, she completely bombed it when the opportunity presented itself. At least she was faring better than Celine, who was busy making weird whimpering sounds behind her. As if the moment couldn’t get any better (or more horrifying), the rest of Intensity walked up behind Cash. They looked at the women questioningly, but luckily none of them seemed upset.

  “Hey!” a deep voice yelled from behind the women. They both turned their heads and to their horror spotted a security guard running towards them. As the heavy pounding drew nearer, the two friends glanced at one another, unsure of what to do next. They were really caught in a bind. They could either start running towards Intensity, however that didn’t seem plausible due to the fact the band apparently rendered them catatonic; or they could get carted away by the six foot four, heavy set man. He looked as if he could carry both women with little to no effort!

  “I told you that if you even tried to sneak in here again, I’d have you arrested!” the man yelled out angrily. His heavy breaths became louder as he approached them.

  “What are you talking about?” Celine gasped. Her lips began trembling automatically. Once again her fight or flight reaction kicked in heavily to flight. She threw Ruthie a desperate look.

  Finally finding her voice, Ruthie said as sternly as she could, “We never sneaked in before! This is our first time!”

  “So you admit you did sneak in!” the man replied angrily.

  “Wait, what?” Ruthie’s mouth dropped open.

  “I recognize you two! You have no idea how many times I’ve seen that shirt sneaking down here!” He pointed to Celine’s shirt and for the first time all night she regretted having worn it.

  Anger started to settle into her core and Celine snapped, “There are about a hundred other women wearing this exact shirt! You have no right to accuse us of anything based on my choice of wardrobe!”

  “I don’t have to accuse you of anything!” Grabbing both their arms, the man added, “I caught you here red handed, didn’t I? No passes, no lanyards! You both are getting boo
ked for trespassing.”

  “WHAT?” both girls screeched as they were literally dragged away.

  Ruthie braved a glance at Cash. She was so close, but once again so far away. She noticed him begin to speak, but unfortunately the security guard grabbed his walkie-talkie, interrupting him. “Gary,” his baritone voice called out. “I’ve caught the perpetrators. Are the cops still here?”

  “Cops?” Celine yelped fearfully.

  A grainy voice answered back. “Yeah, they’re down in the back taking care of the crowd. Take the girls back to the loading dock. The squad car should be out there.”

  Despite their protests and Ruthie’s threats of suing for unlawful detainment, the girls were no match for the security guard. As if they weighed nothing, he pulled them towards the hallway, ignoring their protests. Ruthie looked up desperately and spotted a few members of Intensity merely shrug and walk towards an adjacent room. Cash stood frozen, watching the incident go down.

  “Celine? Ruthie?” Their heads snapped up and they spotted a familiar man running towards Cash.

  Ruthie’s voice trailed off. “Is that…?”

  “Brian?” Celine called out incredulously. An older looking Brian rushed towards Cash and the two began speaking to one another quietly. Celine watched in confusion as the two figures grew smaller and smaller as she was dragged back into the loading dock. Soon the sound of women’s screams filled their ears again.

  “Is that them? Is that Intensity?!” a woman shouted.

  “No! It’s those two girls who snuck in!” another yelled back.

  “About time they got caught! If we couldn’t get in, they shouldn’t either.”

  The other women gloated as Ruthie and Celine were turned over to police custody. Luckily, the two were not handcuffed, but they were still placed in the back of the cop car. It was very humiliating, to say the least. Ruthie groaned and banged the back of her head against the leather seat.

  “I told you this would happen,” Celine said angrily from beside her.