A few weeks ago, I had written a letter to the Sally Jesse Raphael Show to enter a contest. The contest was to see who loved a star the most and the winner would get to meet the star. I wrote a letter to the show telling the show who I wanted to meet. The musical group Bush. I also put a word in that if I won, and they couldn't get them, I wanted to meet the music group Hanson.
       The phone rang and I picked it up off of my night stand, expecting it to be one of my friends. " Hello."
       " Hello. May I speak to Emily Vorpe?"
       " This is Emily  May I ask who is calling?"
       " This is the Sally Jesse Raphael Show."
       " No way!"
       " Yes way. You have been selected to come to our show and compete for a chance to meet one of your choices. You will need to bring all of the articles and pictures you have of Bush and Hanson."
       " No way!"
       " Yes way! Your guardian will have to accompany you. The trip is all expenses paid, first class airplane tickets. Hotels and food is all taken care of."
       " OK. When will we be leaving to go there?"
       " Three days."
       " O.K.. Thank you so much."
       " Your welcome. See you in three days."
       When I hung up the phone, I stood up and walked over to my closet. I opened the white wooden doors and started picking out clothes to bring with me. I threw a white lace dress onto my bed. I threw a blue blouse, a white skirt, a pair of black jeans, and a black, nylon, sleeveless dress onto my bed. I pulled my blue and white duffel bag out from under my bed, folded the clothes, and put them into the bag. I put in my pair of black dress shoes, my collection of scrunchies, and a pair of new looking sneakers. I walked to my dresser and opened the first drawer. I picked up eye shadows, blushes, lipsticks, foundation, powder, mascara, eyeliner, and put them inside of the bag.
        I zipped up the bag and placed it back under my bed. I looked at the clock beside my phone. 6:55. I nearly skipped down the stairs and into the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator door and took out some left over pizza from lunch. I took a slice and put it on a plate. I stuck it into the microwave and heated it up for 1 and a half minutes. I  sat down at the kitchen table to eat it.
 
        I walked down the steep flight of stairs next to my mother. When we reached the end of the stairs, we walked towards the luggage department for our bags. When we saw them, we picked them up and waited at the set of pay phones, where we were told to wait.
        A man in a suit walked towards us. I knew it was the limousine driver that was going to drive us to our hotel so I picked up my bag that I had set on the floor. The man walked over to us and offered to take my bag but I held on to it. We followed him to the exit to the outside and to a white limousine. He took our bags and put them into the trunk and opened the door for us. When I stepped inside, I was amazed. There was a television, a VCR, a mini refrigerator with soft drinks inside of it, and enough room for 10 people to sit comfortably.
        I sat back against the seat and relaxed against the seat. My mother sat opposite from me. I kept thinking about how I would present everything. First, I thought about presenting all of the pictures of Hanson first, the Hanson articles, the Hanson CD, then doing the same thing with the Bush stuff. I decided on doing it that way.
        The limousine driver carried our bags into the hotel, up to the rooms and left us there to go sleep.
        We had set our alarm for 8:30 in the morning, as the driver had suggested. I hit the 'off' button on the alarm and tried to go back to sleep but my mother threw the covers off of herself and walked over to my bed. She picked up the corner of my covers and pulled them off of me. I started to grumble at her and I reached for them. She held them away so I couldn't grab them and doze off again.
        " Come on, I'm tired."
        " We have to go tape the show. Get up. Come on," my mother picked up my arm and dragged me to my feet.
        " I'm tired."
        " Go take a bath. I'll pick out something for you to wear."
        " I'll go take a bath and I'll pick out my clothes when I get out. Don't touch my clothes."
        " Someone sure is grouchy today."
         I picked up my bag and took it to the bathroom and set it on the floor. I turned on the water above the bathtub. I opened my bag and took out my toothbrush and toothpaste. I brushed my teeth until I thought my mouth couldn't be any cleaner.
         That day, I ended up wearing my white lace dress. I braided my hair and tied a black ribbon to the end of it. When I put my makeup on, I did it the neatest I had ever done it before. First, I applied foundation all over my face. Then, I brushed on my brown eye shadow, my pink blush, and then I brushed on my powder. I smeared on my brown lipstick and then I carefully applied my black mascara.
        When my mother was done getting dressed and had done her makeup, we headed downstairs to the hotel lobby. The hotel manager walked over to us and told us the limousine was waiting for us. He escorted us outside to the limo and opened the door for us. He backed away as the limo took off down the street.
        Sally Jesse Raphael, Sally, as she told us to call her, met us inside the building, on the stage. She was sitting on a chair on the stage. When she saw us walk in, she stood up and walked over to us. " Hello. You must be Emily. Hi. I'm Sally."
        " Hi. This is my mother, Joceylnn."
        " Hi, Jocelynn."
        " Hi."
        " OK. Let's get started. The other competitors are already here. Follow me." She lead us backstage and put me inside a booth where I couldn't hear anything. My mother sat in the front row of the audience. I couldn't see anything else because there was a curtain hanging down a few feet away.
         After about 5 minutes of listening to Hanson music from the headset they gave me, the music was shut off in the middle of the song, Yearbook. A male voice said "Open the door and walk onto stage. Make sure you pick up your materials that you brought with you."
          I opened the heavy door and walked about 15 steps until I reached my box of pictures, articles, and CDs. I picked it up and walked another 3 steps to the corner of the stage. As I walked across the stage, the audience's cheering rang in my ears. I sat on one of many chairs. Sally asked me to show me a few pictures of Hanson and a few pictures of Bush. I showed her 1 picture of each member of Hanson , 1 group picture, and 1 picture of each member of Bush and 1 group pic. Each time a picture would go up, a few people from the audience would whistle. Sally asked me to name a tune that was being played in the background. I immediately said " That's MmmBop!!! Everyone started clapping. played. Then, 3 male voices started to sing. Everyone started screaming and clapping and whistling. The voices were still there. Taylor, Zachary, and Isaac were standing next to me. I was standing but wanted to sit because I thought I would fall out of excitement. They finished singing MMMBop. A smile broadened onto my face. Taylor, Zachary, and Isaac gave me a hug. They took turns shaking my hand and we all sat in a chair. I sat between Zachary and Taylor. I felt the tears streaming down my eyes. I couldn't stop crying because I was so happy. Isaac spoke up," I take it you are surprised?"
        " Yes! Wow! Hi!"
        " Hi." They said at the same time.
        "We heard you were in a contest. Sally sent us your letter. We just had to meet you. We were wondering if you'd like to spend a week with us? We'd love to get to know ya." Isaac said.
        " Yes. That would be so great! Thank you. Thank you Sally."
        " Your welcome. Oh, wait a second. I'll ask the judge to put you in as a finalist if you can name this song. I'll give you a hint. It's by Bush." A song started playing. The voices were taken out, but I knew immediately what song it was.
         " That's Glycerine"
        " That's correct."
        The song stopped abruptly.
        " Well, I guess I could put a word in to the judges." Sally said.
        " Wait. What about us?" a voice came from backstage.
        " I guess we could let you come out. What do you think, audience?" Sally said.
        The audience cheered.
        " Everyone, Bush!"
        " Hi Emily " the members of Bush, Gavin, Nigel, Robin, and Dave said with their heavy British accent.
        " Hi!" I ran over to them and Gavin Rossdale gave me a hug. I almost melted in his arms.
        " I think you've had a pretty good day. Have you?"
        " Yes! This is the best day of my life!"
        " That was what we were all hoping you'd say. Listen, we were wondering, after you spend a week with those guys over there, would you like to hang with us for a bit?" Robin said, eyeing Taylor, Isaac, and Zachary.
        " Yeah! That would be great!"
        "  OK, that's all we have today. Bye. See you tomorrow." Sally spoke up.
        " Thank you, Sally."
        " Your welcome."
        I started talking to everyone. Everyone was so nice. Zac was goofing off until it was time to leave that night. He was making jokes, talking about anything that just happened to pop into his head, and he even did a little solo-singing for me. I was very impressed.
        Taylor was very quiet. At first, I thought he was shy, but he did talk a little bit and he did his share of joking around. He sang me the entire song, MMMBop. It seemed to me that he was more talkative than he was in the interviews I had seen with him.
         Isaac did a few Beavis and Butthead impressions for me and he sang a little bit of               " Thinking of You". He wasn't what I expected. I had expected him to be this guy with the macho attitude but he wasn't like that. I had also expected him to talk a lot, which he did. He was so nice.
         Gavin Rossdale was much bigger than I had imagined. He had lots of muscles and his British accent made him seem even stronger. He sang me Glycerine. He, along with all of the other guys, took turns dancing with me.
         At the end of the night, Zac, Taylor, Isaac, Gavin, Nigel, Dave, and Robin rode in the limo with me to my hotel. My mother had left right after the show.                               The limo driver opened the door for me. I stepped out. All of them go out too. They went inside and walked me to my hotel room. Each of them gave me a hug before turning to leave. When I walked inside the hotel room, my mother was asleep in her bed. I didn't bother to change out of my dress that night. I just fell asleep on the bed, thinking about Zac Hanson.
        The next day, I was supposed to be down at the lobby at 9:45 in the morning. So, I woke up at 8:00, got dressed, and went downstairs. The hotel manager led me to the limousine outside and opened the door for me. When I stepped in, Zachary, Taylor, and Isaac were sitting there.
        " Hi guys." I said.
        " Hey. So, where do you wanna go today?" Isaac said.
        " I don't  know what's around here. Where do you guys want to go?" I replied.
        " How about we take a walk on the Walk of Fame?" Zac suggested.
        " That sounds great" I said enthusiastically.
 
      We looked at all of the hand prints and stars' names. All of us tried matching our hands with all of our favorite stars' hands. Mine fit exactly with Judy Garland's. I thought that was pretty cool.
      After we had seen all of the stars' hands and we were starting to get hungry, we headed for the limo. We got in and Isaac told the driver to take us to Planet Hollywood.
      We split a pizza between us. Afterwards, we went to the beach and just walked on the sand, letting the sand slip through our bare feet. Zac splashed me with some water and I splashed him back. Before we knew it, everyone was in the water, splashing each other.
       At about 5:30, the Hanson brothers were taken to the recording studio to practice a few songs. I went with them. When we got there, they went inside the recording room and started singing songs. The first one was called " Lucy" which was one of my favorites. I stood outside the booth, listening to them singing.
       After they finished a few songs, Taylor, Isaac, and Zac called it a night and we all walked down to the limo and we just drove around for the rest of the night. We planned what we were going to do the next day, go to Disney Land.
 
      8:30 am, I woke up and got dressed. I dressed in a pair of jeans and a blue T-shirt. I didn't put make up on that day. I pulled my hair into a messy bun and walked downstairs to wait for the limo to pick me up.
     When the limo pulled up to the curb, the driver opened his door and opened the door for me to get in. Isaac, Taylor, Zac, and their family were in there. Macky, their little brother, Jesse and Avie, the two sisters of the Hanson family, Walker, their dad, and Dianna, their mom. On the row of seats back to back with the window leading to the front seat where the driver was, Dianna and Walker were sitting. Macky was sitting on Walker's lap and Jesse was sprawled across Dianna's lap.
    On the row of seats back to back with the left side of the limo, where no doors were, Taylor and Isaac were sitting. Avie was cuddled up into a ball, thumb in mouth, on Isaac's lap.
    And the row of seats across from the Hanson parents, next to Taylor and Isaac's seats, Zac was sitting alone. I climbed in and sat down next to him. He smiled at me and blushed. He looked over at Taylor, who put his hands over his mouth to keep in his laughing, but didn't manage that too well. He doubled over and looked at Ike, who was staring strangely at them both, cracking up.
    " I think Zac likes you, Emily"
 

      I had 2 days left to spend with the Hansons. We went to the beach for a while during one of those days. We splashed each other in the water for a while, then went rollerblading down the street. We had a few races, 1 of them, I won. We got ice-cream cones and we roller-bladed more. We shared another pizza. For a while, we all just sat in the sand and talked for a while. We talked about what we look for in a girl{ they did} and I talked about what I look for in a guy. We collected sea shells and talked some more. Before the night was over, we buried Zac in the sand.
     We spent the last day in my hotel. We played with each other's hair and danced to the music on the radio. They told me to put their CD on my CD player. All of us danced and after we had shut off the music, they told me about what it was like to make a video.
      At the end of the night, I said good-bye and gave them each a hug. Then, I walked them down to the limousine which was going to take them to the airport.
     " Thank you guys for coming and spending time with me. I had a great time. I hope you guys had just as much fun as I did." I said as they were climbing into the limo.
     " I loved hanging out with you. I had so much fun. Bye." Isaac said. He gave me another hug and climbed inside the limo.
     " I had a lot of fun with you. I know I've made a new friend." Zac said. He also gave me another hug and got inside.
     " Yeah. We definitely had fun. Hey, if I were to give you our address would you give it to anyone else? You see, if you have this address, you can write to us and we'll be sure to receive it and write back. Some addresses are made up and we never receive them." Taylor said.
     " I wouldn't give it to any one else." I said truthfully.
     " OK. Here you go. Our address is yours. Remember, this is only for you." He handed me a folded piece of paper with an address on it. He gave me a hug and climbed in. He shut the door and once inside, rolled down the window." Bye. We had fun, Emily." Then, he motioned for me to bend down so he could whisper something in my ear." Zac wants to give you a kiss good-bye" Then, he looked to the side where Zac was sitting, humming Lucy. He kicked him and started laughing. Zac stepped out of the limo, and gave me another hug. He looked into my eyes and he kissed me! He stepped back and blushed. Then he climbed back into the limo and smiled at me. Taylor winked at me and Ike said" You'd better write to Zac first. He'll go crazy if you don't." He looked at Zac, who was making goofy faces back at him.
     " Bye Taylor. Bye Zac. Bye Isaac." I waved good-bye to them as they drove off. I could here them singing" Lucy".
 
    " Remember us?" Gavin Rossdale stood outside my hotel room at 8:30 in the morning. Nigel, Robin, and Dave stood behind him.
     I had just woke up and they had knocked on the door. I was in a pair of jean shorts and a wrinkled T-shirt. My hair, I was sure, was a mess and I didn't have any make up on. I let them inside and they sat on the couch in the hotel while I got dressed in the bathroom.
      My mom was already gone. Everyday so far, she had spent all day with a guy she had met at the beach one day. She always left early and returned at about 10:10 every night.
     I put on a pair of black jean shorts and my purple bikini top. I brushed my hair into a ponytail and tied it with a white scrunchy. I put on a small amount of make up. I put my clear sandals on and walked out of the bathroom. When I walked into the room, all of the guys stood up. Dave opened the hotel door and all of the guys stood aside and let me out first.
      We went to the beach and they taught me how to surf. They told me they had picked it up while on break from a tour. They showed me all of their tricks and best moves. I tried to surf but every time I got on the board, I would fall off. After a while, they each rode on the board with me and tried to help me. I actually caught a wave with Robin.
       For lunch, we ate outside of a pizza parlor. We shared a large pizza with bacon and extra cheese. We each ordered a Coke. We sat at a table outside, near the sidewalk.
       We went swimming at their hotel pool. We had races across the pool. I didn't win any of the races. You couldn't exactly expect me to against 4 guys nearly 20 years older than me.
       We played a game of water volleyball and my team won. My team was Robin, Nigel, and me. Dave and Gavin thought they could beat us by themselves. We slammed them.
        Around 6:30, we ate dinner. We got cheeseburgers, fries, and sodas. Afterward, we went back to the beach and we rented roller blades. None of them knew how to rollerblade so I taught them. I showed off a little bit, but they didn't mind. After all, the had shown off their surfing.
        I taught them how to rollerblade within half an hour and by 7:30, we were racing against each other. I couldn't believe it! Dave and Robin beat Gavin, Nigel, and me in the races. I think I taught them too well.
        At 9:55, Robin drove me to my hotel. Dave sat in the front of their white corvette. and I sat in the back between Nigel and Gavin. We talked the entire time we were in the car. They walked me to my hotel room and said goodbye.
       We met in the hotel lobby at noon the next day. When I walked in to the lobby, I saw them and I ran over to them." We were wondering when you were coming down. You sure sleep late. It's noon." Gavin said.
      " Sorry, guys." I said, sticking my bottom lip out."  You never told me when to meet you here so I figured I'd come down to the lobby and ask the hotel manager."
       We went to the mall for the whole day. We shopped in almost every store. Gavin bought a leather jacket, a pair of Nikes, and a gold chain. Nigel bought a T-shirt with Beavis and Butthead on the front of it, a leather jacket, and a spray can of blue silly string. Dave bought a stuffed tiger for me, a lava lamp from Spencer's Gifts, and a leather jacket. Robin bought a gold chain, a cross to go with the chain, a pair of earrings for his girlfriend, and 2 leather jackets, one for him and one for his girlfriend. I bought 3 pairs of earrings, I got my ears pierced for the second time, and I also bought a blue sleeveless dress.                                                                                                    After we were done going through every store in the mall, we went back to our hotels. They walked me up to my hotel, gave me a hug, and turned to leave.
       We spent the next day in my hotel. Gavin, Robin, Nigel, and Dave gave me a makeover. They did my hair in a braid and pulled it into a beehive. They all worked on my make up. Gavin put on my eye shadow. He put dark blue on my eyes. Dave put dark pink blush on my cheeks. He smeared it on with his fingers in a circle. He said if you do it with your fingers, it looked better. He was wrong. Nigel put my powder on. He put so much on that I kept sneezing and couldn't stop. He made me look like a ghost. Robin put my lipstick on. He was the only one who knew how to do make up. He put a shade called chocolate over my lips. He didn't smudge it one bit.
        After they were finished, they told me to wash it off so they could see me without any makeup on. I washed it off and showed them and they whistled.
        " OK. I'll show you how I do my makeup." I said. I went through each step, giving them tips, just incase they ever did anyone else's makeup.
        " Beautiful, Emily  Simply beautiful." Nigel said.
        " Thanks.." I said, slightly blushing.
       We stayed in my room until 8:30. Bush was due at the recording studio at 9:00. I went along with them. When we entered, they walked into the same room as the Hansons had earlier. They picked up the black headsets and started to sing.

          When they were finished singing, the members of Bush and I went out to eat a Planet Hollywood. Gavin ordered a hamburger, fries, and Sprite. Dave, Robin, and Nigel ordered a pizza to share and I ordered a burger and chili fries. We ate all of our food within half an hour. We took a walk on the beach and by 10:30, we were walking to my hotel. A few people recognized the guys and stopped us and asked for their autographs. They signed their shirts, shoes, and hats and we kept walking.
                                                                                                                                                        On the last day I saw them, Robin gave me a leather jacket with a message from each guy on it. Gavin wrote" You are pretty cool. Glad we met you. Was fun." Robin wrote" Was lots of fun. Thanks for teaching me to rollerblade. :) " Nigel wrote" Your a great person. Thanks for letting us spend time with you." and Dave wrote" Your OK, Emily  Was so much fun hanging out."
          I hugged them all and thanked them for the jacket. We walked out of the hotel and out to their car. Gavin got behind the wheel. We cruised around town for about half an hour, deciding what to do with our last day. We decided to go and get a "Guide to Stars Homes"  We drove past Luke Perry's house, Micky Dolenz's house, Lori Petty's house, and Mary Tyler Moore's mansion. We took pictures of each and we drove away. We drove past Tom Cruise's and Nicole Kidman's house. We took a couple pictures of it, and we took a picture of the front yard, where Tom and Nicole were, watering their garden.
       Nigel suggested that we go to the movies. He drove us to the California Cinemas and we looked at the choice of movies. We decided on seeing A Life Less Ordinary. We walked into the room where it was showing and sat down in the very back. I decided to sit between Gavin and Robin. Nigel sat next to Robin and Dave sat next to Gavin. I sat back and relaxed against the leather seat. I took a drink of my soda which we had bought just a few minutes earlier and looked at the screen. Within minutes, I was asleep.
         When I woke up, I was in my bed at home and all my stuffed animals were with me. I looked at the clock, 4:27 am. I could feel the sheets sticking to me because of my sweat. I took a sip of water that was on my nightstand. I relaxed against my pillow and tried to fall back asleep. I kept thinking to myself, Wow, it was only a dream. They haven't even heard of me. I fell asleep trying to remember how something so real was just a dream.
         When I woke up the next morning, I hopped out of my bed and tip toed to my closet. I opened the closet door and took out my new blue nylon sleeveless dress. I saw something in the back of the closet. I reached into the back and pulled it off of the hanger. A black leather jacket with messages from Gavin Rossdale, Nigel Pulsford, Robin Goodridge, and Dave Parsons.