chap 5

Chapter Five

"Here we come Alabama!" yelled Mike, as he and Justin rode down the highway, heading to the airport. He high-fived Justin, "I was impressed. Great show, once again, buddy!"

"Thanks. It was awesome. Hopefully Alabama will be just as fun."

"It will be, trust me. You're wicked popular wherever you go, kid." Justin just laughed. "No! Really!" said Mike "You've only been singing a little less then two years now, and you're the hottest artist in the whole USA, and you're only gaining more fans. I'm telling you, you could go out there and sing anything and they'd love it!"

While waiting in the airport, Justin took out his laptop and hurriedly wrote a quick email to Matt, who was on summer break after graduating from college.

Matt,

The concert was great last night. A lot of wacky question after it, though! Maybe you heard it all on the radio? How are Mom and Dad getting along? What about the farm? You got any plans this summer?

Hey, I was thinking, you know the football stadium at Pylins Boarding School? The one not thirty minutes from home? I'm going to go try to perform there to end my summer tour. What do you think about that idea? I'll ask Mike tonight. I think it would be good to end this tour at home, whether it works or not, I'll be back and spend the rest of summer vacation with you.
-Justin

*~*~*

Julianna called Ella the next day, and she sounded excited when Ella answered the phone.

"You just got to come over to the mall with me tomorrow!" she gasped "I hear lots of shops are hiring for the summer. They want girls like you and me!"

"Sweet! That's awesome! I'm sure Mom will let me use the car tomorrow, want me to pick you up?"

"Yeah. Sure. This is going to be just great!"

The mall was very crowded, but was to be expected. The two friends were strolled down the center of the mall, arm in arm, looking into the windows of all the stores, seeing who was hiring and what was for sale. Ella had six dollars in her purse, it was the only money she had left in her small stash. But, hopefully, if today went well, she'd have more coming her way.

"Where do you want to get a job?" asked Julianna

"Oh, anywhere." replied Ella "I'm not picky. Anything that pays well!"

"Same here. Won't it be nice to actually have money to spend?"

The two walked around endlessly, enjoying all the sights of the bustling mall. It was fun just to explore the stores, but it would have been even more fun if they had money to spend. But nothing could be done about that except to get a job.

A huge crowd outside one shop caught Ella's eye. Curious, she went to go check it out, telling Julianna she'd be back later.

The shop was a music store, selling all sorts of things, like ipods, MP3 players, cd players, radios, and, of course, cd's.

Ella pushed her way through the crowd to see what had drawn all the people in. It was a huge cd sale, all cd's selling for much cheaper then they usually were. Ella pushed her way past people to get to the collection of cd's, could there be a Justin Fairway album on sale? Yes. There was. His latest album too! She felt her heart beat quicker as she picked it up, "Please let it be six dollars or less..." she whispered.

Ella flipped over the case, looking for the price sticker. Ten dollars. Ella's heart sank as she put it back down with the othercd's. When would that wonderful disk finally be hers and rest upon the shelf with every other album Justin had ever made?

*~*~*

"A going home concert, eh?" asked Mike that evening "Good plan! You know, I really like the idea of it! When do you want me to book you for?"

"Sometime in late summer. I'll be off tour by mid-August."

"Alright. I'll do that tomorrow then."

"Awesome! Thanks a bunch!"

"No problem, kid. And, oh yeah, don't forget your photo shoot with Starz Magazine tonight."

Justin snapped his fingers. "Holy cow! I almost forgot about it! Well, there go my plans for a simple evening. Hahaha. Thanks for the reminder, Mike."

"Just doing my job, Mr. Fairway." said Mike laughing

"You do it well, Mike." Said Justin getting up from his chair. "I guess I should head over to the studio and get that photo shoot done and over with."

*~*~*

Ella took one more look at the album cover, then glanced up at the store's front window. Right by the door there was a large "Now Hiring", sign. Ella's heart skipped a beat. A music store? What could be a better place to get a job?

Ella swung open the doors and flew oer to the front desk. "You're hiring?" She asked, smiling at the middle-aged woman behind the desk. Inside the store music was piping out of speakers hidden in the ceiling and the lighting was like stage lights. Posters of popular artists and artwork from their greatest albums, covered the walls.

The lady behind the desk smiled. "Yeah, we are. You want to take it?"

"If I can have it!"

"Lets just run over a quick interview, but I'm not picky. Come this way, please."

A little while later, Ella had a job. Everything seemed perfect, she would start the next Monday. Ella was so excited sh could barely think clearly. Ella ran down the tiled mall floor, looking for Julianna. She found her friend waiting outside a clothing store.

"I just interviewed at this place." said Julianna "I think they liked me!"

"Awesome! And guess what? I'm already hired!"

"No way!"

Ella explained the whole thing quickly. "Lets celebrate!" said Julianna, pointing to a ice cream shop. "We can afford it now!"

"Oh yes, we can." said Ella, still smiling.

*~*~*