Not even bothering with a proper shutdown, Brodie turned the system off and raced to her room, grabbing the loose brown pants and pink buttoned shirt she'd worn to Dey's eighteenth. They'd do. The brush ravaged her skull as she pulled it viciously through her hair, a warm, otherwise nondescript brown, falling around her shoulder-blades, fighting the knots without mercy. A quick glance at the clock told her she had about three minutes left, just enough time to change, find her shoes and throw everything she might need into a black tote bag.
There wasn't time for foundation or mascara – about as much make-up as she could stand – a quick going over with pressed powder (a God-send) in the car would have to do.
"Okay, what do I take? Pressed powder, diary, notebook, pen, wallet, keys, tic-tacs, um. . . ." was that it? "Oh yeah!" Water bottle. Never leave home without it.
"Brodie are you ready?"
"Yes Mum," Stop. Pause. Turn. She scanned her reflection in her mirror, gave her hair a few final rip-throughs and ran out to the car as fast as she could in 3¼ inch heels.

To: cerise@altern.org [Cerise], eilton_geoffrey@hotmail.com [Dylan], liverpudlian_girl@bagism.com [Adelaide], lordbyron@yahoo.com [Byron], promethea@moonshinehollow.com [Misty], she_sells_sea_shells@yahoo.com [Andrea], snowbele@aol.com [Lorri] spencer083@snet.com [Tracey] tashaesben@mailexcite.com [Natasha] toxic@fatal.co.uk [Kellie] weird051181@email.com [Kerri-Maye] Cc: palingfence00@start.com.au [Brodie] From:     schnapsee@i-mail.com [Maddy Renfield] Subject: We're off adventuring, wanna come? Hello, As you've probably heard, last week Hanson announced that at the end of their American tour, they'll be retiring. My friend Brodie and I are organising a trip to Tulsa in early September as way of saying thank-you to Hanson for the music and the joy they've given us over the past five years. All of you are authors of popular fan fiction stories, and we believe you can claim some small responsibility for keeping fans entertained and loyal in this time. Brodie and I believe that legitimate hanfic and especially its authors have been underrated considering the amount of work they put in, and the amount of influence they've had on fans, and we think it's only fitting that hanfic authors act as ambassadors on behalf of all Hanson fans in expressing their gratitude. If you're interested, please email me back asap. Thank-you for your time, – Madeline Renfield (on behalf of herself and Brodie Palin)

Staring around her friend's room, Deyana couldn't help wondering how old some of the posters on Brodie's walls must have been. They were all of Hanson, a throwback to her early days as a teeny; she'd already admitted that some of them were awful and should never have been put up. For any normal person, that would precede taking them down at the slightest hint of an opportunity. Had Brodie? Nope. Maybe when it came to posters, she still clung blindly to the teeny creed, or maybe those horrid poses had grown on her in the year plus that they'd been taped there. More than likely the girl was just too darn lazy to bother. They were posters, they were of Hanson, some had been on her wall for over five years, big deal.
Deyana shuddered. A Hanson groupie she was most definitely not. For Brodie's sake, she bit back her dislike, indifferent as it was, and refused to comment whenever Dear Friend asked her a ridiculous question like, 'Listen to this, is it Taylor or Zac singing?', no matter how much she wanted to shout 'If you can't tell, how do you bloody well expect me to?! They both look and sound like fags, and as far as I'm concerned they might as well be. I can't stand their music Brodie, you hear me? Don't torture me with more of it!'. No. She could just imagine the hurt in the girl's puppy brown eyes. That wasn't the way to treat a friend, and she had only a precious few of those; joining the cult of the pentium had given her excellent prospects for a future high-flying (high-paying) career in IT, but on the social scale it scored her a measly two out of ten. No. Brodie had suffered enough for her love of a band that made her happy, Deyana wasn't going to add to it. She'd grin and bear that grating middle Hanson's voice (was it just her, or could a Kalahari Bushman speak better English than that?) and the syrupy tryhard lyrics and that god-awful DJ scratching. Brodie was worth more to her than the antagonism that Hanson music stirred up.
"Let me get this straight, you're going all the way to some backwater US cattle town – in Oklahoma of all places, the cliché of American clichés! – for three moderately attractive musicians who've basically just told the world 'we're quitting, get off our goddamn backs already'?"
"I've told you this about nineteen times Dey, I want –"
"To say thank-you to them, yeah I know. But think of it this way Bro, you've had how many chances to go bend their ears before, when they were still playing, and now that they're not you've got this sudden urge to spend your entire life-savings to go knock on their door and say 'thanks for everything, p.s. do you reckon you could loan me a few thousand dollars since it's because of you I'm now completely destitute'?"
"Sounds about right, except for the loan,"
"Bro, you're crazy,"
"I know,"
"You know, if all their fans are like you, this is probably the best marketing ploy they've ever come up with. Can you imagine how many copies of their albums all the die-hards are going to buy to last them through the rest of their miserable, Hanson-deprived lives?"
"You rotten cynic!" both fell hard on the floor laughing as Brodie proceeded to beat some sense into her friend with a pillow.

To: schnapsee@i-mail.com [Maddy Renfield] From:     snowbele@aol.com [Lorri Winters] Subject: Re: We're off adventuring, wanna come? Hi! I'm very interested in joining your trip to Tulsa, but I need to know a few more details before I can say yes or no. Is there a set date yet? How long would we be staying? And what are the plans about saying 'thank-you' since nothing was really mentioned? Lorri

To: schnapsee@i-mail.com [Maddy Renfield] From:     eilton_geoffrey@hotmail.com [D.] Subject: Re: We're off adventuring, wanna come? Hey :-) I'm guessing that right now you're putting out feelers to see if there's any interest in your trip, since it looks to me like nothing concrete has been decided yet. I'd like to help with the organisation, since I think it's a good idea. The only problem is I live in Australia (which I'm guessing is where your friend Brodie lives, since she has an Australian email address). Anyway, please get back to me because I really would like to help. ~ Dylan Plantagenet

To: schnapsee@i-mail.com [Maddy Renfield] From:     weird051181@email.com [Kerri-Maye] Subject: Re: We're off adventuring, wanna come? Hey, I think your idea is a good one, but right now I doubt the guys would appreciate it. From some of the things I've heard, they've had a pretty rough time over the last couple of months, and personally I don't feel right about intruding on their privacy, even if it is something as simple and kind-hearted as to say 'thank-you'. Thanks for including me, I really appreciate it, it's just that morally I feel it's a bit inappropriate. Sorry, Kerri

To: schnapsee@i-mail.com [Maddy Renfield] From:     palingfence00@hotmail.com [Brodie] Subject: Thanx sweetie! Thanks for that Maddy! I do approve of your choice of invitees, hanfic authors are underrated. I mean, have you ever heard the guys once acknowledge hanfic properly? I suppose it must make them a bit uncomfortable, having stories written about them. It'd probably be a little weird. Anyway, thanks! You're a gem! Luv, your Bro ;-)