Nick woke very early the next morning. He took a look around at his surroundings before he remembered where he was. He looked down and saw Brash next to him, sleeping in her bed. He sighed and laid back down on top of her. A noise caught his attention downstairs. He got up off the bed, pulled the covers tighter over Brash’s body, then headed halfway downstairs when he realized that he had no clothes on. Feeling foolish, he ran back up, threw on his clothes and headed back downstairs.

Sass was lounging on a chaise lounge couch, laptop in lap, headphones on ears. Nick checked his watch. Four fifteen. He stepped down the last step and stopped short, hearing another noise. It was the softest sound, like it was coming from Sass’s headphones, of a girl singing. Sass suddenly looked up and smiled at Nick. He smiled back and sat on the floor in front of her. She slipped off the headphones and placed the laptop in front of her, off her lap.

"Did I wake you up, Nick?" she asked.

"No. I’m used to waking up at all hours of the night and morning. So what are you doing up so early?"

Sass looked a little embarrassed. "Actually, I’m working on some music. See, I have this DJ program on my laptop and I was just messing around with some beats."

Nick looked interested. "Can I see?"

"Sure! Here, let’s go to the couch." They got up and sat down on the couch as she placed the laptop on the coffee table top. "See, this is what I have so far. I was just messing around, trying to come up with some different sounds."

"Do you have any with vocals?" he asked, interested.

"Oh yeah! I’ll show you this one I’m working on. I only have on verse of lyrics recorded." She clicked a few times before a loud, upbeat tune came out:

I don’t care
What you say
I just want it
My way
Take your time
With someone else
Go away
Make my day
When will you learn
That it’s not cool
To be different in
What you say and do
Just get real
And do your own thing
And stop acting
Like a fool

Nick nodded, impressed. "I like it! Did you write the lyrics?"

She nodded her head. "Sure did. This was just a little diddy I came up with one day when I was bored."

"It’s good! But you don’t need me to tell you that you have talent."

Sass blushed and scrubbed her face with her hands. "Can I tell you something? Without it seeming weird?"

"Sure. What’s on your mind?"

"Well, I’ve always wanted to be in music. I’ve been singing since before I could talk practically! And I’ve always looked up to you as inspiration. I always felt blessed at having a role model to think of, but now I feel blessed that I know you and that you’re real and not just a pop star on the radio and in concert and MTV and on cds. I mean, it’s not everyday you get to meet someone you grew up trying to be like, vocally, professionally. So, yeah, I just wanted to tell you that."

Nick thought for a minute about what to say next. This wasn’t just a fan telling him how much she loved him, it was someone he cared about that he wanted to help. Finally, he knew what to say. "I’d like to help you, if you will let me."

"How do you mean?"

Nick looked at his watch and made a decision. "I have to go meet some people in a few hours and when I’m done I’ll talk with you, okay? I just need to go home and shower and get ready. You have a keyboard with you, right?"

Sass looked a little confused. "Yeah."

"Okay. Get a few more hours of sleep, then wake up, change into the most comfortable clothes you have, drink a tall glass of orange juice followed by a cup of hot tea, no sugar, no creme, then practice singing notes on the keyboard. Drink lots of water and just keep practicing. I’ll drop you a line later. Okay?"

"Sounds good."

"Good. I’ll leave a note for your sister so she doesn’t think I just left in the middle of the night…" Nick shut up and looked at Sass, but the look on her face told him that she knew more than what he thought she did.

"You love my sister, don’t you?"

Nick grabbed his keys from the bottom of the stairs and walked to the door. He turned around and half-smiled. "I think so."

**

"That’s all he told you?" asked Brash as she handed Sass her cup of tea later in the morning. Sass hadn’t told her the last part.

"That’s all. So I’ll be in my room singing notes."

"Okay. I have to run some errands. I’ll be back in two hours."

"Could you pick something up for me?" asked Sass before going into the other room.

Brash grabbed her car keys and brushed her hair back. "Sure, what do you need?"

"I ran out of my Almay peach eye shadow and gloss."

"Okay. I’ll see you in a few hours. Love you."

"Ditto. Bye."

"Bye."

Sass took another sip of her hot peach tea as she walked into her temporary room. She plugged in the keyboard and began warming up.