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Editor Note: The images used for this story were purchased and used under royalty-free license* from iStockphoto.com . ~Sephrena
Author Note: Please email me at AngelJediGirl (at) gmail (dot) com before posting this story to any other site. Posting to a pay site is prohibited.

Comments and suggestions are also welcome at the above email address.

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Sarah Carerra Book 3: Concerto in A-

Chapter 3.16 - Best. Birthday. Ever.

'Where are you?!!' the text message said. A large smile spread across my face. Even though I knew I was going to miss most of Katy's birthday party, it would be worthwhile.

'Stuck in traffic. On my way.' I texted back, as I followed Mason out the front door of my house and down the walk to the waiting limo. Mason opened the door for me and I slipped inside with my guitar case. He closed the door and got into the front seat next to the driver.

'Hurry!' came the quick response as we were driving. It wasn't very far to Aunt Judy's house. I knew Katy would be shocked and excited to see Sarah, while I hoped that she wouldn’t be upset that Megan wasn't there. But there wasn't much I could do about that. Megan would make an appearance later, but she was going to miss all of the "fun".

Dad was not happy with what I was going to do this evening, but he no longer had any say in Sarah's affairs. I knew why he was worried. I knew many of the girls who would be at Katy's party. I WAS invited to the party as Megan, after all. It had been Tracy's idea to surprise Katy, but I hadn't needed any convincing.

The party had already been going for a half hour by the time the limo pulled up to the curb in front of my cousin's house. I did my best to keep from drawing attention to myself as I exited the limo and started up the walk to the front door. I wasn't entirely successful, though. There were quite a few people outside staring at me as I walked, but Mason's intimidating presence and his stern-looking face kept them from approaching me. I was glad for that because I wanted to keep my presence quiet until the door was opened. Aunt Judy was in on the surprise, and she had told me that she would make sure that Katy answered the door.

Once we reached the front door I placed my guitar case on the ground, pulled out Sparkle, then closed the case and handed it to Mason. Then I knocked.

It seemed like an eternity before I heard noise on the other side. I prepared immediately, but even then it was a few more seconds before the door opened.

Katy's eyes opened wide immediately, and no sound came out of her mouth. That silence was all I needed to start strumming my guitar while singing 'Happy Birthday' to her. The other girls heard me start singing and came to the door to investigate. They had similar reactions to Katy as they stood staring and listening behind her. But I focused most of my attention on Katy. She'd had the chance to spend some time with Sarah earlier this summer, so she hadn't immediately turned into a screaming teen, but as I finished singing the other girls filled in the silence for her.

"Happy birthday, Katy," I told her while shifting Sparkle into a position that would let me give her a hug. After we embraced she finally seemed to find her voice again.

"What are you doing here?" she asked excitedly. It was quite obvious that this was the last thing that she expected to have happen on her birthday.

I smiled. "Tracy convinced me that you would like it if I showed up for a little while this afternoon. Is that okay?"

"Of course!" she screamed back! "Come on in!"

I nodded and stepped into her house. The other girls were still going crazy, and I gave them a wave as we spread out in the front room a bit. As usual I didn't have much room around me as the girls crowded in, but they left me more room than I normally got when I walked into a Star Party, for instance.

"Hi everyone," I told the girls. "I'm Sarah."

There were some chuckles from the girls at my words. It was obvious that they all knew who I was. Katy took the hint, however, and started introducing each of her friends. I smiled and shook each of their hands. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Aunt Judy watching the antics and smiling the entire time. She knew who Sarah really was, and she seemed to be enjoying the girls' reactions as much as I was.

"Unfortunately I can't stay for very long," I told them, causing a few of the girls to frown. "But I thought I could sing you a few songs before I go. Is that okay?"

The assent from around the room seemed to indicate that was a good plan. People started scrambling for seats on the couches as I took a seat in the soft chair near the door.

I spent the next 45 minutes serenading the girls with my songs. Each of the girls got to choose a song and I was more than happy to oblige them. I knew from the look on Katy's face that she had just become one of the coolest friends that these girls knew. She was the only person who could say she'd had Sarah Carerra perform at her birthday party.

But eventually I had to wind the fun down. I still wanted to come back to the party as Megan, and if I spent too much time performing I wouldn't get the chance. Fortunately, Katy in her excitement had forgotten that Megan wasn't here, and I hoped it stayed that way.

"Let's get a picture," I stated as I placed Sparkle back into its case. When I looked up all of the girls were starting to line up. I watched as Mason pulled out a camera and Aunt Judy rushed to grab her own. Then I joined the girls as they took a few pictures. Then I gave each of the girls a hug. The mood in the room had changed as the realization that I was leaving started to set in, but it was still high.

"Thank you, Sarah," Katy called as we headed for the front door. "You made this the best birthday party ever."

"It was my pleasure, Katy," I replied. "And it was nice meeting all of you," I added to the other girls. Mason opened the door for me and I stepped out onto the front porch.

"Don't go!" I heard one of the girls say which broke most of us into laughter. I knew that they didn't want me to leave, but it was time that I did. However, there was one more thing that I had to do.

"I have a birthday present for you, Katy," I said, which caused her to perk up immediately. "It's in the car, though. Follow me and I'll give it to you."

"Okay," she said, smiling but also very curious. Nevertheless she followed me down the walk toward the limo. The other girls were watching from the door as I stepped into the limo and set Sparkle down in an out of the way location as Katy climbed into the limo behind me.

"Shut the door," I told her. I wanted privacy for this. Katy pulled the door shut and then slid across the seat until we were facing each other. I had slipped into the middle of the limo and sat on the bench that faced the back of the car.

Katy was looking around nervously as she tried to understand why I wanted the car door closed. But instead of saying anything, I reached up and started pulling pins out of the wig. I had waited a long time for this moment, and I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I worked to free it from my head. Katy kept looking at me in wonder. I knew she hadn’t realized what I was doing because she seemed to be confused.

"Remember what I wrote on your CD?" I asked her while continuing to pull pins out.

"Yes," she replied with a smile. "’You're the best friend I never knew I had’," she stated what I had written on the CD cover I had signed for her.

"Do you believe that?" I asked her. She tilted her head to the side for a moment as she tried to come up with an answer, but the look in her eyes told me that she didn't believe me. Katy was puzzled. I had been very friendly with her in the few times that we'd met in the past - unusually friendly for someone whom she shouldn't know.

"I don't know," she finally answered.

"Well, it was true," I told her while reaching up and pulling the wig from my head. I kept my eyes on hers. I was rewarded with an even larger look of surprise than she had given me at the door earlier. She even gasped this time. Then she was screaming in excitement, much like I would expect from the screaming teen fans.

"Megan!" she yelled. "You're Sarah Carerra?!"

"Surprise!" I said happily and watched her slump back in her seat in amazement. She didn't stay there long though, before she leaned forward again.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" I laughed this time.

"I wanted to," I told her. "I wanted to tell you so many times. But keeping this a secret is extremely important to me, and my dad didn't want me to tell you. But your birthday seemed like a good time to let you in on the truth."

She scrambled inside the car so she could wrap her arms around me in a long hug.

"I can't believe that my cousin is Sarah Carerra!" she screamed into my ear. But any pain I felt was drowned out with the happiness and excitement that she was radiating. I hugged her back and we just held each other for a while longer.

"I need to go change if Megan is going to make an appearance at your party," I told her shortly after we had finally let go.

She nodded before speaking. "Okay," she said. "I guess I know why you were late now."

I giggled along with her for a moment. Then she started scooting towards the door.

"I'll be back in 15 minutes," I told her as she reached for the handle.

"Okay," she replied, the smile still plastered across her face. "And thank you, Megan. I thought that Sarah had made this the best birthday party ever. But you just topped that. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Katy," I told her. She nodded once more before opening the door and climbing out.

She was giddily skipping toward her house as the limo started moving away.

* * *

It was closer to 20 minutes later that I pulled my car into Aunt Judy's driveway. I felt, and looked, completely different as I walked up to the front door this time; when the door opened, the girls didn't start screaming. But Katy did. She screamed and launched herself at me before wrapping me in another hug. She didn't say anything, but I knew that she was still excited about what I had told her.

"You missed all of the fun!" she was still screaming as she let me go. "Sarah Carerra was here!"

"What?" I asked back. "What was she doing here?"

"She came and sang us a few songs before leaving. I wish you could have made it," she replied.

"I'm sorry I missed it," I added, though I couldn't keep from smiling.

We moved into the house to where the birthday party was still in full swing. But the discussion quickly turned back to Sarah's visit and I was rewarded with a secondhand version of the events that had happened earlier in the evening. It was interesting to hear how the other girls at the party remembered what had happened. They definitely had a skewed memory about what I actually did. Apparently I had connected with each of the girls, and many of them felt that Sarah Carerra was now their best friend.

We were eating birthday cake when Jackie, one of Katy's friends, told me, "Tonight was not a good night to be late. Now you'll never get to meet Sarah!"

I swallowed the bite I had just taken before responding. "I don't know about that," I told her slyly. "I've met Sarah a few times."

The girl's eyes went wide for a moment, and Katy burst into laughter. She was laughing so hard that I was worried she would give something away. When she finally calmed down enough she had to wipe tears from her eyes. All of the girls were looking at her like she was nuts.

"Megan and Sarah have known each other since they were little," Katy finally explained. "Megan, don't you even work with her?"

"Yes," I replied. "I'm one of her personal assistants."

"That is so cool!" one of the other girls screamed. "Can you get me a job?"

This time it was my turn to laugh. I hadn't expected to have any conversations like this when I came back, but Katy seemed to be having fun so I let it continue.

"Probably not," I told the girl, which caused her to frown. "But maybe I can get you guys tickets to a concert sometime or something."

All of the girls started screaming about that possibility! I just smiled at them as the discussion then turned to how cool a night out at a Sarah Carerra concert would be. I caught Katy's eye for a moment and she smiled at me. Katy didn’t seem to mind that I was dominating much of the attention at her birthday party.

Eventually we settled down into a more normal party atmosphere. We played a few games and laughed a lot together. Presents were opened and thanks were expressed. When Katy thanked me for the signed poster of Sarah I gave her she was quite appreciative, and I knew it wasn't just for the poster.

By the time I returned home later that evening, I was exhausted by the amount of energy it had taken; not only to perform for the girls but also at how active and excited they were the rest of the night. Katy's party had lasted a lot longer than any Star Party ever had. Even though Sarah had left the party hours earlier, the energy had never fully died down.

Katy had become one of my best friends when my life had taken its abrupt turn earlier this year. But tonight solidified our relationship into something that we would have for the rest of our lives.

* * *

The rest of the week was fairly dull, and the depression that had lifted at Katy's party started to reappear as the days counted down to my last concert of the tour. I knew that this wasn't going to be my last performance, but not even the thought of performing at my school was enough to lift my spirits. That concert would only be an addendum to the tour, so it didn't give me the same feeling of anticipation.

The only thing that really kept me plodding forward during school was the meeting we had scheduled for Thursday afternoon to talk about the performance I would be giving at the VMAs in a little over a week. It was awesome to be involved in the discussion to determine how we would be performing 'You Can't Hurt Me'.

But it wasn't until Friday afternoon that I started to feel good again. When I stepped on the plane for the flight to Seattle there was only one thing on my mind:

I couldn't wait to finish my tour with a bang.

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