Chapter 4

That’s The Clay,
Uh-huh, Uh-huh, I Like Him!

 
The chilly wind rushed at me, as I climbed out of my mom’s warm van. Bundled up in two pairs of pants, and two shirts, along with a sweatshirt, and a jacket, and some gloves, I knew I was in for a very long, cold night. But a night that would be more than worth it, one that I would never forget.
My sister Anna, and her friend Claire, and I were sleeping outside of a local radio station, because Clay Aiken was supposed to come in for an interview in the morning. Claire’s mom and another lady were staying with us, out in the cold, but my mom wisely chose to sleep inside our warm three-bedroom house. Tomorrow was my sixteenth birthday, and meeting Clay would be the greatest birthday wish ever!
We all lay down under the mountain of blankets, but the hard concrete was still uncomfortable, despite our attempts to create a mattress of sorts. We sat up, determined to make this work, and occupied ourselves by singing Clay songs at the top of our lungs. The security guard, eating donuts inside the heated building was not amused, but what did we care?
Brody, one of the late-night DJs, came out. "You guys are nuts!" he told us with resounding confidence.
"It’s my sixteenth birthday tomorrow," I told him, happily, ignoring his "nuts" remark.
"Well, the wind’s blown your hair a little out of sorts, so I would fix it before the news crew gets here," he said calmly.
"There’s a news crew coming?" Claire screamed.
"Yep, I called at least two stations, though there are probably more coming."
"Oh my god," Claire was getting excited. Actually we all were. We started screaming and jumping around. Brody just stood there and laughed. This was going to be a great night.
The news cameras came, and after the initial interview, things seemed to pick up. We were on various news stations, and did at least three interviews. "Is Clay that awesome that you guys would stay out here all night just to meet him?" one reporter asked.
"We’re Clay-zy for Clay!" my sister told him.
"It’s totally worth it. Even if all we get to do is see him up close, it’s more than worth it. Besides," I told them, "tomorrow is my sixteenth birthday. What better way to spend my birthday than getting to see Clay!"
Sure, we couldn’t feel our fingers, or our toes, and our ears and cheeks were flushed, but we hardly noticed, as the night wore on. At 12:01am, I announced at the top of my lungs that it was my birthday, that I was now officially 16 years old. We screamed a very loud version of "Happy Birthday To You," and then settled down and tried to get some sleep.
It was about 2am when Claire’s mom woke us up. "The temperature has dropped and the wind is picking up. You guys have to go sleep in the car." Groggily, we piled the blankets into our arms and sauntered towards the white station wagon. After folding down the back seat, we attempted to sleep all lying across the folded back seat and truck. Didn’t work very well.
Sleepy and cold, we awoke 2 hours later, and sat up, sipping coffee and trying to stay warm next to the garden lamps the radio station had set up. We each took turns going inside the building, where the heat wrapped around our bodies, to use the bathroom. Each person took a long time, longer than usual, just to enjoy the warmth that had become so unfamiliar to us in the last seven hours.
About 5am, other Clay fans started arriving, having heard the rumors that Clay would be here today. But we were first in line. First, before everyone else. Brody had come in to sit in during the interview, and when he saw us alive, he grinned. "So you survived the night, huh?" he laughed. If our lips hadn’t gone numb an hour ago, we probably would have laughed too.
As we found out later, Clay used a back entrance to come in the station. Disappointed, we all huddled in the crowded lobby, glad to be out of the bitter cold. All the other fans were jumping up and down, saying how they had been here since 5am, and they were so excited to see Clay. Claire, Anna and I just rolled our eyes. "Shows how much they know!" laughed Claire. Brody came down stairs, from where Bob had been interviewing Clay. "You guys," he whispered, out of earshot of the other fans, "Clay will be exiting around back. His bodyguard said that a few people can see him, but not a lot." He looked directly at me, "You guys deserve to see him, and I think it’s fair that you get to, especially on your sixteenth birthday." He looked around at the others. "I’ll distract them, and when I ask if they want me to take a picture of them, you guys leave and go straight around back. Run fast, and Clay will be there." Brody smiled, and I realized this was a sincere gesture.
"Thanks," I said, but he shrugged it off. He headed over and started talking with the others. I couldn’t here what they were saying at first, but then I heard Brody’s voice above everyone else’s.
"You guys want me to take a picture of you, so you can have it to remember this day by?" I looked at Claire, her mom, and my sister. We vacated the building as though it were on fire, but casually enough so as not to draw attention to ourselves. Sprinting around to the back, suddenly it didn’t matter whether or not we could feel our toes. Our legs were working just fine, and they certainly didn’t let us down that day. Jerome, Clay’s very tall bodyguard, met us around back. "How many of you are there?"
Claire’s mom counted. "There’s me, my friend, my daughter Claire, and her two friends Anna and Maria."
"Okay," Jerome said. He opened the door to the building, "He’s right around the corner," he told us. Sure enough, as we rounded the corner, there was Clay Aiken, in flesh and bone.
My knees went weak and my heart started pounding. There was a reporter and a camera guy next to him. He noticed that we had entered the room, and I caught my breath.
"Hi," he said in his lovely southern accent.
"Hi," I said. Claire and Anna followed suit. I smiled, even though I could hardly breathe.
"It’s her birthday," Claire blurted out, motioning in my direction.
"Oh really?" he asked, smiling. "How old are you?"
"Sixteen," I said, smiling right back.
"What’s your name?"
"Maria," I told him, and I felt myself begin to blush.
"Happy birthday Maria." Oh my gosh. Clay Aiken just said "Happy birthday" to me. Oh my gosh. My heart soared. I was snapped from my thoughts when I heard Claire’s mother’s voice.
"Can I get a picture of these three with you?" She was waving her camera around, and smiling broadly.
"Sure," Clay answered, obviously well-adjusted to having his picture taken with fans.
Claire and I got on each side of him, and he put his arms around each of us. My sister crouched just in front of us. I could no longer feel the effects of a night outside in the cold. My entire body glowed with the warmth of having Clay Aiken put one arm around me. I felt like the luckiest person on earth.
He had said goodbye, and hugged each of us. Yes, Clay Aiken hugged me. I thought my heart would melt. I watched him walk away. I watched as he opened the heavy double doors. And I watched as he climbed into his unmarked car, not a limo, just a car. I watched as the car sped off. I watched until the car rounded a curve and sped out of sight. I turned around, and faced the others. Sighing, content, I reflected on how memorable this experience was.
The news lady ran up to me, shoving a microphone in my face and barricading me with seemingly insignificant questions. "How do you feel?" "How long have you been a Clay fan?" "Is this the best sixteenth birthday present ever?" I politely answered all of her inquiries, though my mind and heart were elsewhere. My heart had flown away in the unmarked car with Clay. I was floating high above in a sea of clouds, in a world where only happiness can be felt. Wow. It was 8:30am on my sixteenth birthday, and already I felt as though my life were complete. I am never, ever going to wash this sweatshirt again, I decided then and there.