Strangers When We Meet

We didn't have much time for sightseeing. We drove along, trying to find a place to park before the concert. There were so many people there already and every lot we tried was full.

“Shit.” Frankie spat. “We need to hurry up.”

“We've got time.” I told her as I turned a corner, “Keep an eye out.”

“Just park at a meter.” June said from the backseat, a huge bag of popcorn in her hands. We both shot her a look. “What?”

“And get towed? Who's going to come out and feed the meter in the middle of the show?”

“Oh... right.” she went back to her popcorn.

Frankie rolled her eyes. “Hey, Fun-size, up ahead. Fingers crossed, ladies.”

There was a line of cars by a parking garage a street ahead. “How much?”

“Fifteen bucks.” Frankie exclaimed. “Are they crazy?”

“For how long?”

She shrugged. “Til 2. Plenty of time I suppose.”

“We've got fifteen.” I said absently, inching ahead as the car in front of my moved up. “Please don't be full.” I murmured like a prayer.

As luck would have it, we got one of the last remaining spots. We parked and got out. We were a few blocks from the Staple Center, Frankie knew how to get us there. Both she and June had been to Los Angels before, this was my first time. We walked, all of us in sneakers, our MARS t-shirts and jeans. We had only the essentials with us, money and our tickets mainly. The show would be starting soon, there were several acts before MARS, but June had to stop to take a bathroom break. She was getting bigger by the day and that meant more peeing. Her parents hadn't kicked her out, but Craig's had, poor guy.

We made it to the arena, crowds of people were all around, making their way inside. I was so excited. I had never seen them live before, none of us had, and we just couldn't wait. We walked hand in hand to one of the line and as we got to the front of the line we all handed over our tickets. No one had us arrested for forged tickets, and we walked inside full of confidence.

“See. What I tell ya? Told you they were real.” Frankie said as we made our way through more and more people. We had June in between us, making sure she was safe.

“Do you think we could get backstage?” Frankie said.

I looked around us. “Not with this much security around. They'll throw us in jail.”

“Nonsense, Pixie-dust. We'll find a way.”

“Where's the food?” June asked. We ignored her.

We could hear the music of one of the bands in the middle of their set. “We should get to our seats.”

“Not before we get some food.”

“You just ate.” Frankie told her. We had stopped and had a good dinner before heading here.

“But I'm hungry.” she pouted.

So we found some food for the pregnant girl and as we walked through the crowds of people, Frankie suddenly took both of our hands and steered us in the opposite direction than we had been heading.

I asked, “What are you doing?”

“You'll see.” A wicked little grin on her face. We waited for her to explain, she didn't just dragged us along. “Just play it smooth.”

“I hope you aren't doing what I think you're doing.”

We went down another hallway, there were people scattered here and there and we tried to look like we belonged, which was a bit hard with Frankie trying to drag us, and June trying to munch on nachos.

We walked on, even though we got a few strange looks. Then we were stopped by a huge man in a yellow jacket that just screamed security. Uh-oh.

“Where do you think you're going?” he asked.

“I need to see Jim. Jim Foster.” Jim? “Could you tell him Frankie's here.” she said it with such confidence. A smile was on her face, she tried to look innocent. Like I said, tried. When that didn't work, she went for sexy.

Frankie was five seven, built like a model, with a punk rock style. She jutted out her hip, pouted her lips and batted her eyelashes.

The man was not impressed.

“Do you have passes?” the big man asked.

“Jim was supposed to give them to us before the show, but we were late and so, you know.” Again with the smile. June and I smiled as well, knowing full well we were about to get past him.

Behind him a group of people had suddenly come out of the doors up ahead. My heart sped up when I saw Tomo and Shannon in the middle of the crowd. The meet and greet, by the looks of it, but Jared was nowhere to be seen. June and Frankie had seen them too.

“Yo, Tomo!” June suddenly shouted. That got everyone's attention. Including us. June didn't normally say yo. Nor did she usually yell at people to get their attention. “Hey, Shannon!” she added waving politely.

To our surprise Tomo and Shannon both smiled and waved back. No way. I waved back like an idiot. I'm pretty sure my mouth was hanging open.

The security guard was momentarily distracted, but then he was telling us we had to go back. Another security guy was about to join him, when a man called out from behind us.

“We just want a picture.” I begged.

“So does everyone else.” the big man said, his name tag read: Martin.

“Listen, Martin.” I said, my eyes on Shannon and Tomo still, “My mom used to know the Leto's, I just want to take a picture, say a few words.”

“Look, girls. That sounds real nice and all, but you don't have a pass, and I can't let you get near them. For all I know you could be crazy.” He looked at each of us in turn, his eyes focused on June's belly an and her plastic container of nachos for a moment. “Just turn around, head back, before I have you escorted out of here. And I know you don't want that.”

The crowd behind us was dispersing. This was our last shot. But I knew it wasn't going to happen.

“Let's go.” I muttered, knowing there was no hope.

“No.” June said. “Can we have a picture?” She waved her hand around.

“Girls. Please.” This was the new security guy. “Let's not make a scene.”

“Is there a problem?” Shannon's voice boomed out of nowhere.

The new guy, Brian, turned to him, “No, Mr. Leto. We've got it under control.”

Shannon looked at us, “Let 'em through.”

We all looked at each other. Was he serious?

The security guys were trying to talk him out of it, stuff about protocol and safety, but Shannon was ignoring them all, and gesturing for us get closer to him. There were two other men behind him, plain clothes security, I assumed. Tomo was right behind him, having just took one last picture with some of the last remaining fan .

Martin and Brian had no choice but to step aside. We were all grinning from ear to ear.

“Hi, girls.” Tomo said.

“Hi.” we all said in unison like shy little girls.

“So you guys want some pictures.” Shannon said.

“If it isn't too much of an inconvenience to you guys.”

Tomo chuckled. “You went out of your way to get our attention. You've got it now. Come on. Hey Todd take our picture.”

Todd was one of the guys with them. He took Frankie's camera and with their arms around us we squeezed in and took several pictures with two-thirds of 30 Seconds to Mars. It was a brief minute, they signed our shirts, Shannon kissed Junes cheek and told her to be safe tonight, and my mind must have went blank because I knew I was forgetting something, just not what.

They waved to us as they walked away, back behind the security guards, the it hit me.

“Shannon, wait.” I yelled before he got too far away. Tomo had already disappeared. “Wait. I have something to ask you.” I moved forward, only to be intercepted by Martin. “Shannon.” I called again. “Do you remember a girl named Catherine Taylor?”

I wasn't sure if he would remember her, but he stopped and turned back to face me, recognition in his eyes. He studied my face for a moment.

“Catherine Taylor?” He looked at me for a silent moment. “No way. You're Kate's little girl?” he asked as he walked back over to where we stood, telling Martin to back off. I nodded, afraid I wouldn't be able to speak for some reason, pulled out the picture of them and handed it to him.

“Well, I'll be damned.” he said softly, looking at the photo, his eyes crinkling at the edges as a smile formed on his lips. “Wait 'til Jare sees this.”

My grin widened. There was a look on is face, almost childlike as he studied the photograph. He didn't say a word, he seemed to be daydreaming a little. I'd give anything to know what he was thinking.

“Shannon.” one of the guys with Shannon said softly. “You've got to go get ready.”

Shannon snapped out of his revelry. He slowly handed the picture back to me.

“Todd.” he said to the man, “Go get me three passes.” A minute later we had backstage passes. “Come see me after the show.” he hesitated for a moment. “You mind if I have that picture. I'll give it back. I just want to show Jared.”

“Absolutely.”

“I didn't get any of your names.”

“Oh. Right. That's Frankie, and June. And I'm Brie.”

“Nice to meet you all. I'll see you girls later.” He waved to us and headed back, flanked by security guards.

We didn't wait around. Happily we walked back to the lobby and pauses, beaming and thrilled at having met Shannon and Tomo. We got pictures, autographs and backstage passes. How had all that happened?

“Tell me to thank your mom when we get back.” Frankie said. “Hell, she can keep on calling me Francine. This is fucking awesome.”

“This isn't really happening.” June said. “We're all high, right? Because there is no way that that just happened.”

“I know, right. This is crazy. How could it get any better?”

Frankie giggled. “Well if I get to touch Jared's ass, it'll make the night complete.”

We made it to our nosebleed seats. We didn't mind much that we were so far away from the stage, it was going to be great regardless. And after the excitement we just had, it didn't matter. I touched the pass around my neck, still smiling. This night was really the best night of my life, by far. Even if mom did kill me when I made it home, at least I'd die happy, right?”

The last opening act had finished their set, the lights went low and the crowd was ready for our boys to emerge. And they didn't disappoint.

The show was fantastic. They did songs from all their albums, a few we hadn't expected. And Jared, who was shirtless the entire time, was all over the place. We sang along to every song, screaming our heads off, cheering along with the rest of the Echelon. It felt like some huge family reunion with people you've never met, but have an instant connection with. It was magical.

The show was over around midnight and as we made our way out, adrenaline coursing through us all.
“We get to go backstage.” June sang. Arm in arm we hit the lobby and navigated our way through people to get to where we needed to be.

Once again we met security, but we flashed our passes and they didn't stop us. Giddy we walked past them and past a group of people waiting by a door. They also had passes. One guy winked at me, he had a hot pink MARShawk and could pass as Jared's younger twin. I gave him a smile.

“Shit. I've got to pee.” June said, drawing my attention away from the guy.

“Really? Now.” Frank said, her arms crossed. “This is getting ridiculous.”

“I can't help it. It's this thing.” she pointed to her belly.

“Oh god.”

So after a short restroom break we walked on. “Are you sure this is the room?” June ask as we stood outside the a closed door. We could hear people inside.

“Yeah.” I went to knock but the door sprang open, my fist a few inches from it.

“Can I help you?” A very tall blonde woman said, her lip curled up.

I tried to look tall as I faced her. I'm only five foot nothing and she was like an amazon, so you know. “I'm looking for Shannon.” I said casually even though I was nervous as all hell.

She rolled her eyes. “What you are you twelve?” she laughed. “Nice try but he doesn't do jail bait.”

“Listen, Barbie,” Frankie snarled, “Shannon told us to meet him. And no, we're not here to give him a blowjob. Is he here or not?”

The other people in the room grew silent. I couldn't see around amazonian Barbie, but a familiar voice shouted out. “Angie. Let 'em in.”

"Yeah Angie. Let us in." I said, smiling.

Angie the Amazon looked pissed but stepped aside. I walked in first, Frankie bring up the rear. “Weren't you on your way out, Angie?” Frankie said sweetly. I didn't turn around to see her, but the door shut and I knew she was gone.

“Hey.” A shirtless Shannon said, coming over to hug me as if we were old friends. “Did you enjoy the show?”

“Yeah.” I whispered. He hugged June and Frankie as well.

There were about twelve others in the room. I don't know what I expected, groupies maybe, that's what Angie reminded me of, but the people here, who were lounging, and relaxing, just looked like they were their entourage. The room was large, filled with comfortable seating, and loads of food and flowers and other assorted gifts that several people were packing up. Shannon led us to a small room adjacent to the one we were in. It was empty, save for two loveseats, a table and Jared Leto.

Jared was also shirtless, a towel around his neck, although there was an outfit lying on the arm of one of the loveseats. He was looking down at the picture as we entered but quickly turned to face us. “Hi.” he said softly.

“Hi.” once again we all said in unison.

“Come in. Sit.”

We did. Shannon shut the door halfway. We awkwardly sat on the loveseat facing him. Shannon sat next to his brother.

I'm knew what this might looked like to the people in the other room. And I started thinking that maybe we shouldn't be in here with them alone, who knows what kinds of rumors might get started, we were underage after all. But the guys didn't look worried, so I played it cool.

He looked at me. “You're her.”

I swallowed. I felt very nervous. Jared Leto has the most amazing set of blue eyes, and they were locked on my own dark ocean blue ones. It was a bit intense.

“I guess I am.” I stammered out.

“My god you really do look like her.”

I did look like my mom, but there were other features that I had no one to compare them to. I smiled.

“Told you.” Shannon said, smiling. He had a lovely smile, he didn't use it nearly enough.

“Wow. The last time I saw you, you were four or five.”

“Wait, we've met before?”

He smiled, a small laugh came out of his mouth. “Yeah. As I recall it, you thought I was a jungle gym. You climbed all over me.”

I shook my head. “Sorry. I'm a little confused. From my understanding, you and my mom stopped being friends before I was born.”

“I wouldn't say that.” Shannon chimed in. “We drifted apart. Different paths, you know. But you're mom was the one who didn't return calls.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Jared said. “The last time me and Kate talked it was over the phone, about eight years ago. Before that, we had met up, had lunch, she had showed me a picture of you.” he frowned, thinking. “You were maybe seven. It was a school picture, you had a huge red ribbon in your hair.”

“Yeah. I was trying to be stylish.” That had to be when we were still living in Louisiana. So mom had been I touch with Jared then. What had changed?

“What happened?”

He shrugged. “You'd have to ask her.”

“Good luck with that.” Frankie muttered.

“Mom isn't really open when it comes to talking about her life.”

“Hmm.” Jared frowned. He opened his mouth, but quickly shut it, shutting off whatever he was going to say.

I noticed June in the corner, helping herself to some finger food from a tray. Shannon grinned at her, and told her to take the whole tray. She blushed and sat down near him, the tray on her lap. That little pause in conversation made me take in where we were.

I laughed and said, “We're sitting in a room talking to The Leto Brothers. This is strange.”

“We're strange. You shouldn't expect anything less.” Shannon said.

We all laughed, but then Jared turned serious. “How is she?”

“Mom? Good. She got married a few years ago.”

He nodded, his eyes on mine. “That's good. That's… good.” he looked down for a minute. “Is she still a social worker?”

“Yeah.”

“Some good work she does. I always admired her for that.” I could tell by how he spoke about her that there was no love lost for my mom. Even if she had severed all ties with him. What was wrong with my mom?

“So are you living here now?”

“No. In Phoenix. We're just here for the show.”

He arched and eyebrow. “And your mom let you come?”

I looked away. “Not exactly.”

He shook his head. “If you aren't your mothers daughter.” Shannon chuckled.

We sat there, talking to the boys about their upcoming tour and new album. Tomo came in a while later and joined us, and it was as if we were all old friends, that is once we got over all our nervousness. The Leto's told a few stories about when they were young, living in Louisiana with my mom.

They said she was a free spirit, hard to believe that now. She was fun, funny, sweet, and tough. And always stood by their side, even in a few fights. That sounded like my mom, in a way, but it was still hard to picture her they way they were describing her.

We were all laughing away when there was a light rap on the door and a woman, tall, slender, beautiful, came in. She wore a silk blouse, and very expensive slacks. I got the impression she was very smart, and very important.

“We've been looking for you guys.” She looked at all of us, particularly us girls. “Time to get going.”

The boys all sobered up. “Things to do?” Frankie said as they all stood.

“Yeah.” We stood up too.

“Sorry. We didn't mean to hold you guys up. We just wanted to meet you.” I said.

“No need to apologize.” Jared said, giving me an unexpected hug. I hugged him back. “It was great to see you again. Will you tell your mom hello for me.” He paused. “That is, if you want to. You might not want her to know we've met, all things considered.” I frowned. “You're not supposed to be here, remember?”

“Oh, yeah. Right.”

Jared handed me the photo. “You can keep it if you want.”

He smiled a little. “Thank you.” he seemed like he wanted to say something else, but didn't. I didn't know all of his history with my mom, but I knew both he and his brother cared deeply for her.

The guys escorted us out of the room, following the nameless woman. A lot more hugs, even a kiss on the cheek from Shannon who called me little Katie, and a picture with all of us, before they had one of their security guards make sure we got out safely and left down the hall. We waved them off, and soon were back outside in the chilly LA air. Luck had been on our side tonight.

“Oh. My. God.” Frankie said, jumping up and down.

“I know, right.” I said, joining in.

“I could kiss your mom.”

“Eww.”

“We just hung out with Jared, Shannon, and Tomo.” June said, as we made our way to the parking garage. “This is surreal.”

“And more importantly, they hung out with us. Like we were actually cool.”

“Could this night get any better?” Frankie said.

We got in the car. We thought about heading to a motel for the night, it was pretty late to be driving all the way back to Phoenix, but we were too hopped up on adrenaline to even think about sleep. I knew the hell I was going to face once I was home, but nothing could spoil this night. Nothing.

“Damn,” Frankie said as we got on the freeway. “I didn't get to touch Jared's ass.”