“Whoa, I didn’t think I’d see you today!” Dena said to them as they blew into The P*lace. It had been the Kids that had essentially sold The P*lace to Dena when Flip needed to get out of debt. Their performance sealed the deal, thanks to the quick addition of Anthony.

Presently, he was concerned with another performance. “Aw, Dena, you should have heard these guys! They had it all together!”

“And afterwards, at the autograph signing, they were so nice!” added Haylie.

“So, what are you doing back here? Aren’t you going to camp outside their hotel room or something?” joked Dena.

But the Kids were already hopping up onto the stage. “Don’t be silly, Dena. We’ve got work to do.” Nicole told her.

“Work, huh?” Dena laughed. “Since when are you so serious?"

“We still need a lot of polishing before we hit the big time.” said Charlie.

“Okay, now you’ve lost me.” said Dena, shaking her head in bewilderment.

“We got a chance to talk to the band after the show,” said Ana, “and we told them we had our own band together, and asked if they could give us any advice.”

Charlie couldn’t wait for her to finish. “And they’re just like us! They got together after school and just kept performing until they got noticed!"

“And this affects you how?” asked Dena.

“They asked if they could hear some of our stuff.” Nicole explained. “If we’re lucky, they might even show it to their manager.”

“Oh, you guys, that’s just standard issue celebrity talk. They didn’t mean any of it.” Dena said to them. “I’ll bet you everybody and their grandmother’s gone to them with demo tapes, trying to get their foot in the door. Of course they’re gonna tell you to keep at it, that’s good advice, but there is no guarantee you’ll be discovered overnight. You do know that, didn’t you?”

Apparently not. “Why wouldn’t they help us?” argued Haylie. “They’ve been where we are. They understand how hard it is to break into the business.”

“They are a lot older than you are, and they’ve already finished school.” Dena was quick to point out. “Plus, you’ve got an open forum to ‘polish’ your act right here at The P*lace.”

“Don’t worry, Dena, we won’t forget you when we’re on MTV.” said Charlie.

“Hmmph!” said Dena, but she decided to leave them to their youthful arrogance and get back to her work.

“Maybe Dena has a point.” said Ana. “We’re not professionals. I mean, we don’t even have a demo.”

“But we will.” Anthony said. “I just found out one of those recording studio places is opening up in the mall. You know, the one where you pick the song, and they let you make your own cd’s. We could do that easily.”

“It would really impress that manager.” added Nicole.

“Well, we better get started, then.” said Haylie. “The band’s only gonna be in town for a few more days.”

“How much does something like that cost?” Ana wondered.

“It can’t be that much. We’ll split it five ways, right?” said Charlie. “All we gotta figure out is what to put on it.”

“You know what we should do?” Nicole said suddenly. “We should tape a couple concerts, rehearsals, see what works and what doesn’t.”

“Great idea! You get the tape recorder.”

“I’ll stop by the mall and get more details.” volunteered Anthony.

It was all coming together so fast. They set up the tape recorder, and immediately an argument ensued over who would sing lead first. Everybody wanted to be equally represented on the cd. No two people could agree, though, on the perfect track list.

Charlie stopped the tape for the umpteenth time and sighed. “Let’s take it from the top again.”

Everyone else started griping. “Charlie, you don’t have to work us to death!” said Anthony. “We sounded fine that time!”

“We sounded tired that time!” said Ana. “If we keep going like this, we won’t have any voices left by the time we make the cd.”

“But we’ve only got one shot at this, Ana. It has to be perfect.” Haylie said to her.

“I think we’ve almost got it.” Charlie declared. “We ought to try this arrangement out on an audience.”

“Tomorrow, ok?” Ana asked. “I’ve got a big test coming up I haven’t even studied for, and my mom’s been getting after me to help out more at home. All we do now is yell at each other.”

“Is she still gonna let you do the cd with us?” asked Nicole.

“I hope so.”

“All right, we’ll stop and rest our voices for now.” decided Charlie. “But we’d better get a move on, because time’s running out.” Word had been going around that the band’s tour schedule had been altered, and they would be leaving any day now.

“We’ll make it.” Nicole said. “It’s what we all want, isn’t it?”

Ana decided not to answer that question.

They were already bickering and playing the tape over and over again when she arrived the next day. “Hey, Ana, I kept trying to call you yesterday, but your phone was always busy.” Haylie said. “Who were you talking to?”

“Robin.” said Ana. “Her troupe’s finished touring the country, and they’re going to be back in town for a little while.”

“What better person to get feedback from?” said Charlie. “Is she coming to The P*lace?”

“I don’t know. It’s funny, but when I asked her about it, she just said, ‘Yeah, I guess’, and changed the subject.” said Ana. “She was probably just tired. I’m sure she can’t wait to hear us.”

“Then we’d better finish this tape. That studio opens in 2 days.” said Anthony.

“Let me set it up, and we’ll start recording again.” Charlie began.

“Wait, Charlie,” Nicole interrupted, “How come you’re the only one talking on the tape? It was my idea, and it’s my tape recorder.”

“You couldn’t think of anything cool to say.” replied Charlie. “We have to sound like we do this all the time.”

“Why do we have to talk, anyway? It’s just a practice tape.” Haylie pointed out, and the arguing began again.

“Forget cool!” Anthony was saying. “Our music is cool! We should just let it speak for itself” He realized he was outnumbered. “Ana, give me some help here.” he beseeched.

“You can recite nursery rhymes for all I care!” Ana snapped.

“Ana, what’s wrong?” Nicole asked her.

“Nothing.” she said tersely. “Look, I came here to sing. If we’re not gonna sing, I’m gonna leave.”

“Ok, ok’’ Charlie soothed. “C’mon, guys, let’s get singing.” He waited until Ana’s back was turned before he cautiously hit Record. After the number, Ana muttered something about getting to the airport and left without another word.

“Was that Ana who just flew by?” Dena asked the Kids.

“I’m not sure.” said Anthony. “I didn’t recognize her, either.”

“You think she’s nervous about making the cd?” Charlie asked.

“No.” answered Haylie. “This is something bigger.” She sighed. “I think Ana’s jealous of Robin.”

“What do you mean?” asked Nicole.

“When Ana first got here,” Haylie explained, “she was good at everything, you know, a good singer, good cheerleader, and we all liked her. We didn’t realize it looked to Robin like we were choosing Ana over her. She was just jealous over something silly. But really, it was Ana who was jealous, because Robin had us, and she wanted that, too.”

“So Ana thinks we’ll be all over Robin when she gets here, and she’ll be left out.”

“That’s gotta be it.”

“Well, we’ll just have to show her that she’s not being replaced.” said Charlie.

“Why don’t you just tell her she’s got nothing to worry about?” Dena suggested.

“She may not believe us.” Anthony said. But Dena had a feeling they were probably headed for trouble.

An entirely different Ana returned to the P*lace the next day, one that threatened to talk Robin’s ear off.

“…And so Charlie passed me the ball, and I got it in just as the buzzer went off"” she was saying. “I’m telling you, Robin, it was a miracle, because we’d all been so mad at each other. The girls and I actually skipped a rehearsal!”

Robin was unsure of what to say once Ana stopped to breathe. “Wow.  I’m...sorry I missed that.” she laughed nervously, looking for an escape. “Haylie! Hi! I am so glad to see you! Please, don’t let me keep you from rehearsing.” she said while trying to subliminally suggest, Save me from Ana!

The others greeted her very enthusiastically. “Great timing, Ana!” said Charlie. “You know what? Yesterday, we were all so preoccupied with our own ideas that we forgot to ask you what you wanted.”

“I don’t really want anything different from what you wanted.” Ana said.  “I mean, Anthony was right, the music is the important thing, but Nicole was right, too. Why don’t we all just introduce ourselves between songs?”

Everyone instantly voiced their approval. “That is such a good idea! Why didn’t we think of that?” said Nicole. “You’re a genius, Ana!”

Ana blushed. To take the attention off her, she quickly turned to Robin. “What do you think, Robin? Does that sound good?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure! I think that’s great. Sounds like you guys have everything under control.” said Robin. “Don’t mind me, I’ll just be at the counter here.”

“You sure? We’re just playing around. You can come up on the stage if you want.” Ana said.

Robin dismissed her offer. “Oh, no, trust me, I’ve seen enough stages this past year that I’m sick to death of ‘em.”

Ana could feel everyone’s eyes on her, and it was really starting to creep her out. She tried another tactic. “If no one minds, I’d like to get my part out of the way. My voice is going, and I don’t want to waste a lot of tape.”

“Oh, you’d like to go first?” Anthony leapt up. “Go right ahead! Matter of fact, you should go first on the cd. Don’t you all think so, too?”

“Yeah.” added Haylie. “The first track is crucial. It sets the standard for the whole cd.”

Alarms went off in Ana’s head. “Maybe I shouldn’t go first, then.”

“Ok, if that’s what you want.” said Charlie. “After all, it’s really the last track you hear that you remember the most.”

“Why do you guys care so much about what I want all of a sudden?” Ana wondered.

“We always have!” insisted Nicole. “Why, just yesterday, I was using the phone, and I thought, ‘Gee, I wonder if Ana might want to use the phone next’.”

“Forget it. This is all just a waste of time.” Ana said disgustedly. “I shouldn’t even have been here when all I wanted was to spend time with my cousin.”

“Oh, really?” Robin said, coming up onto the stage after all. “That’s kinda funny, ‘cause I wanted to stay home, but you insisted we come here. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to avoid spending time with me.”

“I’m not avoiding you!” said Ana. “You’re the one who keeps changing the subject whenever Kids Inc. comes up. You never wanted to hear about the P*lace, or what’s been happening, or whether there even was a band anymore! Don’t you care?”

“Of course I care! I’m glad that there’s still a band, and you still have the P*lace, and that you sound great. But I didn’t want you to worry that any of that was going to change now that I was here.”

Ana was stunned. “You mean, you’re not coming back?”

“I figured that’s what you were thinking.” said Robin. “Ana, I have no intention of coming back to Kids Incorporated.”

“None at all?” asked Ana. Everyone expected her to be happy at the news, but she didn’t appear to be.

“No.”

“See, Ana?” Anthony said. “You didn’t have to be jealous after all.”

“Who said I was jealous?” Ana asked him. They all glared at Haylie. “Is that what all this was for?” said Ana. “All the extra attention and worrying about what I wanted?”

“You’ve been acting strange ever since you found out Robin was coming back.” said Haylie. “We wanted you to know how much you mean to us.”

“Yeah, we’re not going to dump you and take Robin.” Nicole said.

“I was kinda hoping you would.” Ana said suddenly.

“Ana!” Robin admonished.

“Well, I’m not anymore!” Ana assured her. “I just didn’t know what else to do. I’m going through so much stuff right now, and making this cd was just more stress I didn’t need. Then you call and say you’re coming back, so I figured you could do the cd, and it would be one less thing I’d have to deal with. Plus, I wouldn’t feel like I was letting the band down, because they’d have you."

“Ana, I think it’s pretty obvious that they don’t want me.” said Robin. “They want you.”

“Sorry if we came on a little too strong.” Charlie apologized. “I think this cd has us all stressed.”

“Should we still be doing it, then?” Nicole said suddenly. “Maybe we’re not ready to make the band our whole lives. This is supposed to be fun, but now no one seems to be enjoying it anymore.”

“It’s just making us fight.” added Anthony.

“We really do want to know what you think of all this, Robin.” said Haylie. “Is it worth it?”

“Well, for me, it was,” said Robin, “but it’s a huge sacrifice. I hardly have any free time. And I miss seeing my friends and family.” She smiled at Ana.

“Do you ever regret it?” Ana asked her.

“Honestly? No.” she answered. “I decided it was worth the risk.”

Not one of them could admit to actually taking the time to do that. “I guess we still have some deciding of our own to do.” Charlie said finally.

“But I would like having a cd of myself, though.” said Robin.

Dena cleared her throat behind them. “I hope you haven’t forgotten me already.” she joked. “I was just going to suggest that since you’ve already got the money together, you might as well make the cd. If anyone off the street can just go in and make one, then you certainly shouldn’t have a problem.”

“Even without practicing first?” Anthony asked.

“Sure! Be spontaneous!” Dena suggested. “Do you think those other guys sat back and planned everything?”

“That’s something we never did!” Ana suddenly realized. “We never asked them how they got discovered, or how long it took. For all we know, they didn’t even have a demo tape, either.”

“So what are we still making the cd for?” asked Charlie.

“For us.” said Haylie. “Let’s just do this for fun, and not worry about how professional we sound.” Everyone agreed.

“Do you want to come, Robin?” asked Ana.

“No, that’s okay.” said Robin. “This is something you guys planned. I would like a copy, though. I never did get to hear you.”

A smile crept over Ana’s face. “Well, since it’s just for fun...” She looked at the others. They nodded.

“Are you serious?” said Robin.

“Why not? If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be on the cd.”

“We won’t take no for an answer.” added Nicole.

“Well, when you put it that way,” laughed Robin, “how can I refuse?”

The moment the studio opened, Kids Incorporated was there. Their cd consisted of 12 tracks, the first one a duet between Robin and Ana. The whole thing was so good, the studio piped it through their speakers continuously. They’d never even heard of that other band.

The End