Five…Four…Three…Two…Action! Ethan and the other members of his band, ZERO, watched a monitor from backstage as a clear view of the New Orleans skyline came into view. The camera closed in on Bourbon Street and started flying down the street before shooting back into the sky, swiveling and heading right toward Jackson Square. The familiar statue of Andrew Jackson on his horse with the St. Louis Cathedral in the background was quickly framed before the camera turned in one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, focusing on the downtown building where the Real Time News offices are located. The shot angled downward, and, in the distance, the infamous logo of the Real Time News Network could be seen by viewers as the logo raced toward them. Finally, an extreme close-up on the logo filled the screen, and the station announcer’s voice was heard over the RTN theme music, “You are watching Real Time News, the only station bringing you groundbreaking news twenty-four hours a day with no pre-taped programming. You can also keep in contact with the world online by watching RTN at www.rtn.media.”

As soon as the announcer finished, the shot went right through the wall of the RTN building, giving the viewing audience an overhead shot of the RTN media studios. After a second pause, the camera swooped down. Images of reporters hunched over computers, editors viewing segment footage and anchors standing around having coffee or getting their makeup ready filled the screen as the camera arched down toward the main broadcasting desk.

The main desk came into view, displaying a cheerful-looking blonde sitting behind it. She was clearly the woman of the moment in the RTN offices. She wore a smart navy-blue business suit with a cream-colored silk blouse under her jacket. Her naturally long blonde hair was pulled up into a clip on the backside of her head. Although other women constantly tried to emulate Tika Downs, no one could perfect the look of a woman who looked like she jogged in and was now ready to walk down the catwalk in a Paris fashion show. Her makeup lacked the same finesse. Tika insisted on doing her own makeup for the camera. When she didn’t look like an orange pumpkin on top of her snow-colored neck, her fire-engine red lips jumped off the screen at the viewing audience. Industry insiders joked that her lips were the most memorable part of her entire career.

Tika shuffled a small stack of papers before glancing at the camera and flashing her award-winning smile. Once the viewing audience saw this smile, no one wondered why she was ‘America’s Most Trusted Newsperson’.

“Good evening, America. This is Tika Downs, live from the Real Time News Network’s Main Studio in New Orleans. This evening has several brilliant shows being brought to you from around the world via the RTN Network. A complete listing of all shows can be found on our website at www.rtn.media. Next hour, Jeremy Price’s Business Hour will be brought to you live from within the Japanese Stock Exchange. But first, Tom Dulce has chart-topping ZERO sitting with him on his couch today.”

“Places,” a voice said into Ethan’s headset, causing him to look up from the monitor. It’s go time. He climbed onto the small platform and took his position on stage. Another monitor on the ground allowed the band to see the RNN telecast. He watched as the shot went over the back of Tika’s head, showing more people busy at work in the newsroom. The camera zipped out of the studio and down the hall before taking a sharp left into another sound stage. This time, as it entered the sound stage, the live audience erupted into applause as the image narrowed in on an older newscaster. Tom Dulce’s face looked like any sixty-year-old man with a little Botox injected here and there. The only part of Dulce’s appearance that gave away his actual age was his eyes. Although Dulce was not the oldest person in the news industry, his eyes had that aged look that came from a lifetime of memories.

Dulce had started his career as a war correspondent at another network. Even Ethan had heard the rumors floating around the news industry that Dulce had seen more live combat action than most single-star generals. Although the Pentagon had never confirmed anything, Ethan surmised that there was probably more truth in the rumor than not.

The camera zoomed in on Dulce, who sat behind an enormous mahogany desk set against a clear window overlooking a busy Camp Street. On the monitor, Ethan could see the barricade set up by the NOLA Police Department, where fans of all ages stood outside screaming. The fans held various poster board signs, hoping to glimpse Dulce or his guests. Although the glass was soundproof, Ethan saw the frantic jumping up and down and imagined the screaming in his head.

“Welcome to In Touch with America. I’m Tom Dulce.” The studio audience erupted into another round of applause. “This afternoon, I am dedicating the entire hour to the number one music group in the nation. You know them as Zach, Ethan, Ric and Orr—better known as ZERO.”

Ethan heard the distinct sound of four clicks of drumsticks as the studio camera faded off Dulce and onto a side platform erected on the sound stage. In the dark, Ethan got into his first position, keeping his eyes on the telemonitor to see what it looked like to the audience.

A white screen was suspended between the ceiling and the front of the stage. A bright light shone behind the platform, causing the white screen to glow. The lights dimmed, and the camera framed the dais as the introduction to ZERO’s number one hit Baby, I’m Back boomed through the speakers with the backdrop of screaming fans inside the studio. The song started slowly. As the introduction picked up momentum, green lasers shot at the white screen, forming various shapes. The notes built into a crescendo, the lasers spelled out the ‘Z’ ‘E’ ‘R’ ‘O’ logo across the white screen. The sound from the frenzied audience grew. Ethan had worried the introduction was drawn out too much, but from how the audience reacted, the choice was the right one.

A voice cut into his headset, “Curtain drop in five, four, three, two…”

The screen quickly dropped to the ground as fire burst from each side of the stage, revealing the ZERO members, who stood in a straight line across the front. For the first time, Ethan saw the live studio audience.

Ethan and the other members of ZERO executed their prearranged choreography, skillfully crafted by their choreographer, Sally Higgins. Sally may have had a background in ballet, but no one would have guessed that when ZERO performed her high-energy, hard-hitting steps.

Before coming on In Touch with America, no one had seen ZERO perform the new song live. The band’s single had shot up the charts before the full album had been released. Today marked the launch of the full album and the start of their North American tour. After the performance, the group planned an autograph party at the Hard Rock Café, a couple of blocks from the RTN studio. Dan Rawlins, the group’s producer, had planned on getting as much press and hype as possible to skyrocket the album to number one and break records, which would help ZERO sell out their one-hundred-city tour.

As the song ended, the pace shifted back to the melodic introduction, hushing the crowd with anticipation. Ric, the group’s tenor, finished the song with a solo unaccompanied. As Ric sang, Ethan and the rest of the band made the same forward and downward hand motion as they tilted their heads and the lights dimmed. The last note hung in the air before the audience erupted into applause. Ethan let out an inner sigh of relief. That went better than I thought it would. The audience didn’t readily see the repeated line Orr made during his solo or how Zach had botched a piece of choreography. Ethan realized that one of the nice things about an audience not completely familiar with a song was that they weren’t as critical because they didn’t know the material yet.

Ethan walked over to Tom Dulce’s interview area with the rest of the band. Dulce, in his usual stoic, professional newscaster manner, had remained seated during the applause. As the band approached, Dulce stood to greet each of the young men with a solid handshake as they sat down beside him.

“Wow, what can I say after a performance like—?”

“I love you, Ric!” a teenage girl on the fourth aisle yelled, cutting Tom off.

Ric smiled before saying, “Thanks. We love you too.”

Ethan smiled to himself. They’d all been coached to respond to these outbursts with the universal “we” to make it clear that the entire band loved their fans.

Four years ago, when the band’s first album, Dog Days, had first come out, no one in the US had known who they were. The group had been steadily touring Europe for a couple of years before the album’s release. Most boy bands got tested overseas to see if they were worth spending money on making the group a US hit. If a boy band became wildly successful across the pond, they might make it in the US. Within weeks of the band’s first release, their title cut, Dog Days, had skyrocketed to the top of all the music charts globally. What had seemed like overnight, the four best friends from New Orleans became the biggest pop sensation in over a decade. Their first album had gone triple-platinum and continued to break records with each new country it was released in.

Zach, Ethan, Ric and Orr had not been ready for the media storm that ensued because of their success. Zach’s parents’ divorce had been dragged through a tabloid, and Orr had been accused of abusing a wide range of substances. Overall, the group had moved forward and defied all the odds. Most of the group’s success could be attributed to two talented music industry insiders—Ron Hightower, the group’s manager, and Dan Rawlins, the producer. While both Ron and Dan had believed in the group’s musical talent, both men were music insiders who knew how to deal with the press. Despite all the problems during that first year on tour, the group had stuck together and thrived.

Their second album, As Expected, had come two years after the first one. Ron and Dan had believed in what they called the ‘triple threat.’ Ron and Dan had wanted the group to release three albums in a little over four years. Hopefully, all three could be on the charts at once, making record history for a boy band and boosting sales. So far, the first two still hung on the charts, and this third album had what it took to make that vision a reality.

“Ethan, what sets this album apart from the two previous ones?” Dulce asked.

“Well, Tom, I’m thrilled you asked that question, because people expected this album would be another typical ‘boy band’ album, but it’s not. In fact, it has a completely different vibe than anything being done in the US. Our Producer, Dan Rawlins, hired an innovative DJ from Germany to create the record’s rhythmic sound. This stuff is rocking the charts in Europe, and we wanted to incorporate it here.”

“You think you have something unique, do you?”

“We know it’s unique, Tom, and we’re the band who gets to usher in this total hip music style here in the US,” Rick said.

Zach, Ethan and Orr all nodded in agreement.

“Orr, what is the nationality of your name?” Dulce said, switching gears, “In my research for today’s interview, I found several explanations attempting to describe its origins.”

Ethan knew Orr was annoyed by the rumors surrounding his name, but he kept the smile pasted on his face as he answered. “Tom, thank you for asking. I have run into those same rumors. I’ve been accused of being from Iceland— Hello, I’m Black! Do I look like I’m from Iceland?” The audience politely laughed at Orr’s attempt at humor. “Actually, my birth name is Orville Johnson. Not exactly the name you want to be called in junior high in inner-city Pittsburgh, so I started going by Orr.”

“How does a kid from inner-city Pittsburgh end up in New Orleans?” Dulce asked.

Ethan sat back against the couch as the group quickly spent the next few minutes reviewing their history. The four guys had met in a college at Tulane. Zach, Ethan and Ric had all come to college from privileged backgrounds.

Ethan had been the captain of his high school football team and initially entered college on a scholarship. At six-foot-one-inch with his perfect V-shaped build, Ethan had been a stellar athlete and could have gone pro until he suffered a severe back injury. Ethan’s neurosurgeon had replaced a ruptured spinal disk, but the doctor told him another injury could permanently paralyze him.

Orr came to Tulane after having been scouted by several university football teams. During summer training, Orr and Ethan had become best friends. Orr’s mom had been a single mother and had told him he needed to work hard and get through high school to go to college. Orr had realized early that his mother’s dream wouldn’t happen easily, because there was no way she could afford it. He had known the only way he was going into college was by becoming a straight ‘A’ student and football star.

When Ethan had been injured during the fall semester of his freshman year, Orr had taken it upon himself to get Ethan out of his depression and help him channel his energy in a new direction. Ethan had not been ready to stop moping around. After many failed attempts at re-integrating Ethan into college life, Orr had realized Ethan would be a tough case to break. Eventually, Orr had stopped trying to take Ethan out of the dorm room. Instead, he had brought the fun to Ethan. Although Orr’s constant insistence that Ethan “be productive” had grated on Ethan’s last nerve, he had eventually come around. During this moping recovery phase, Orr and Ethan had met a couple of cool guys on another floor, Ric and Zach. Before long, Zach, Ethan, Ric and Orr had been inseparable. The guys did everything together.

After their freshman year, they had gotten a house a few blocks from the main campus. Orr had worked all summer and raised enough money to quit football with the help of other financial aid and scholarships. Orr had never taken to football how most expected. To Orr, football had been the means to get himself into and through college. Once there, he realized he had more options than playing ball.

One night during the spring semester of their sophomore year, the guys had thrown back a few beers when they came up with a scheme to make themselves known on campus. They had formed a band and entered the university talent competition. The initial goal had been to find some ‘boy band’ song and destroy it in jest. The group had settled on Excess by X-chro, a British import that had ended up being a flash in the pan but had been making headlines and waves in the music industry at the time. What originally was to be a spoof of boy bands ended up winning them the top prize and a consultation with an industry producer, Dan Rawlins. Rawlins, as they found out, was the British producer who’d signed X-chro.

The competition organizers had forwarded the video to Rawlins at the end of the competition. When Rawlins had seen the four guys and their raw talent, he went to New Orleans and had a development meeting with the group. Zach, Ethan, Ric and Orr had been dumbfounded by the offer Rawlins made to develop the group’s talent and shepherd them. Less than a month later, the four had signed contracts and taken leaves of absence from the university. The following year had been a whirlwind of vocal lessons, choreography training and meeting with songwriters. Before they knew what had happened, the group toured Europe while developing material for their first album. After two long years, the group’s first album Dog Days was released to outstanding reviews and impressive sales. Zach, Ethan, Ric and Orr rocketed from obscurity to superstar fame in less than four years.

Here they were, as the group prepared to release their third album, talking to the famed Real Time News talk show host slash anchor, Tom Dulce.

“So, guys, you know your fans want me to ask you the question. Are you all currently in relationships, or are you all still single?” Dulce asked.

“Tom,” Orr said. “I guess I should make it public… I got engaged two weeks ago to my high-school sweetheart, Constinia.” Several exasperated “ahhs” and “ohhs” were heard from the studio audience but were quickly drowned out by polite applause.

Listening to Orr talk, Ethan let his mind drift as he remembered how Orr had told the guys right before he popped the question. Sadly, as was typical with celebrity life, the group had discussed how Orr should handle the post-engagement press. Since this was unfamiliar territory for the band, the group had told Orr to ask their manager for his opinion. Hightower had immediately involved Rawlins. And before the band knew it, a complete media campaign had been developed for the post-engagement announcement press tour. Today’s ‘impromptu’ appearance at RTN was the beginning of the publicity tour. Rawlins saw the engagement announcement as a great opportunity for Orr to sing a ballad from the new album, which could be dedicated to his fiancée, Constinia.

The audience died down as Ric and Zach admitted they were both single and currently looking for people to fill the vacancy. Several “I’ll be your wife” yells came from the audience.

“Well, it looks like everyone has answered the question except for you, Ethan. You wouldn’t be trying to avoid answering, would you?”

“Not at all, Tom. I am not married, for those of you who want to know, nor do I currently have a girlfriend or fiancée. I find it hard to meet people when you’re on the road as much as we are.” Ric and Zach both quickly agreed. Ethan continued, “When you are touring or recording in the studio forty-three out of fifty-two weeks in the year, you don’t get much personal time. I only see my family on big holidays or when I fly them out to a show. Without these three”—motioning to Zach, Ric and Orr—”I probably would have quit singing long ago. Don’t get me wrong. I love what I’m doing. I love you, the fans, but it takes a lot of work and energy to do what we do.”

“And the four of you do what you do amazingly well,” Tom said, looking into the camera. A stage manager signaled that it was time for the newsbreak. Tom looked right into the camera and said, “It’s time for News Minute here on the Real Time News Network. Tika Downs is in the news studio. Tika.”

“And we are off the air for three minutes,” the studio director informed the audience. It was as if the balloon had been let go in the room. Everyone sighed and relaxed in unison. Ethan absently watched as Tom and the rest of ZERO started talking among themselves. Tom assured the group that the interview was going well and asked them if they needed anything during the break. The guys said they were fine and enjoyed taking a breather. Ethan stood and stretched his legs, lifting his hands over his head just high enough that his shirt pulled up, exposing the top of his boxers and the tuft of light brown hair on his stomach that led down into his boxers. A couple of the girls in the front row almost fell out of their chairs. Ethan saw their expressions and laughed on the inside. If they only knew.

“Places, everyone. Sixty seconds to go.” Ethan looked at the monitor to see Tika reading the list of news items succinctly. He was about to move back to his chair when he saw a graphic of a houseboat with the words “New Orleans” underneath. Ethan paid attention to what was being said for the first time during the break.

On the monitor, Ethan watched as Tika glanced down at her script and read, “This just in. A tragedy struck earlier this evening. As you probably know, New Orleans is home to the popular daytime soap opera NOLA Nights. The police are not releasing any information. We have confirmed from studio sources that two of the show’s stars who were rumored to be dating have been murdered. Cynthia Dunning and Daniel Hawthorne, both age twenty-seven, will be sorely missed by the acting community and their fans.” Cynthia and Daniel’s NOLA Nights publicity headshots flashed across the screen. Their birth and death years displayed below. “Our hearts go out to the NOLA Nights family and their fans during this tragic time.” Tika’s somber face stood frozen on the screen for a second before she continued, “Now, we rejoin Tom Dulce with In Touch with America and the band ZERO. I’m Tika Downs. This was News Minute.”

Ethan watched Tika with transfixed horror as she reported the deaths of Cynthia and Daniel. The world seemed to slow down for him. He saw the news bulletin end but could not feel or hear anything else. He felt like he had an out-of-body experience. He shuffled back to his seat in the studio, but he was on autopilot. In the distance, he heard, “I’m Tika Downs. This was News Minute,” but he wasn’t sure where it was coming from. It sounded like someone yelling when you’re submerged in a swimming pool. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he collapsed. In his last second of consciousness, there were sounds of screaming as he slipped into nothing but black.