American Dreamers

I bolted through the front door of my house, running as fast as my legs would let me. I ran past the living room, and straight into the kitchen to the mail table. I grab the pile of mail and begin going through it, throwing useless stuff like bills and promotions for washing detergent to the ground. My heart was pounding quickly and my palms were sweating. I swallowed as I realised I was getting closer and closer to the last letter, and I still hadn't seen the one that I wanted. When I reached the second last letter, I felt my hope and excitement fall. I wasn't going to get the letter that I wanted. My suspicions were confirmed when I got to the last letter, and it was a invitation to Mark and Tina's wedding. I dropped my head in disappointment, and flung the letters back onto the table. 

"Whatever." I muttered under my breath.

A little while later, when I was watching TV, I heard the door click open. The entrance hall was filled with voices. Two girls, and a boy. Most likely Max, my twin, and two bimbos he had picked up from somewhere. Yeah, he's a bit of a player. I still love him though, he's the best twin brother a girl could ask for. He puts up with my total obsession with American Dream, and lets me watch the TV whenever they're on, and blast their music through the house when it's just me and him. Thinking of American Dream just lowered my spirits even more. They were so amazing. Why couldn't they just write one measly little letter back to me? Would it really be so hard? Or even to just send a photo that they had signed. But no, they chose to stay silent, leaving me forever wondering how they really felt about my constant declarations of love. Probably annoyed actually. That's what Max had told me once, when I was moping about the house after checking the mail and discovering, once again, no letter.

I heard Max and the girls move into the kitchen, laughing and joking around about some kid at school named Jimmy. 

"Yeah, he's such a little freak! He always, like stares at me in Maths." I heard one of the girls say, whose voice I'm fairly sure I recognised. I heard my brother laugh and open a cupboard, most likely looking for cookies. You see, my brother has this obsession with cookies, just like I have an obsession with American Dream. Contrary to popular belief at school, my brother actually spends more time eating then he does working out. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen him go to the gym, he just swims and surfs.

I tiptoe into the kitchen, hoping that my brother will send the girls home soon, so I can have an awesome moping session with him. I peek around the door, and see Max leaning against the counter, a cookie in his hand, and laughing at something one of the girls said. The girls are standing in front of him, and I vaguely recognise them. I think the one on the right is Steffi, and the one on the left is Katie. They're some of the most annoying, and probably bitchiest girls, I've ever met, but they have to be decent to me, otherwise my brother would hate them. Max catches my eye, and I nod my head slightly to the left. That's our code for: GET THEM OUT OF HERE, THEY ARE ANNOYING THE SHIT OUT OF ME. Max grins, and tips his head backwards, meaning sure thing.

"Well ladies," he says to them, "it's been just wonderful to see you, but I'm afraid that you need to leave now." 

"But Maaax," whines Steffi, "We like, just got here!" Max doesn't say anything, he just stares at her, looking really, really scary. 

"You know what? I have homework to do, lets go Steff." Katie says. Steffi looks a bit pissed off, but she agrees. They both hug Max good bye, and then head on out of our house. I come into the kitchen. 

"Thank god they're gone." I say to him. He grins. 

"They aren't that bad actually Monty. You just don't bother to get to know them properly." I look at him like some people might look at a dead rat. He just grins again. 

"Soooo, any luck?" he asks me, and I immediately know what he's talking about. 

"No." I say, feeling utterly depressed. Max looks at me sympathetically, and takes a bite out of his cookie. Then he brightens, like he's just had a great idea. 

"I know what'll cheer you up!" he exclaims. 

"What?" I ask. 

"American Dream's NEW music video, which is premiering tonight, on MTV." 

"OMIGOSH!!" I scream/squeal, "HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT THIS??!!!" Max winks at me. 

"Anything for my favourite little sister, aye?" I start bouncing up and down and screaming, completely forgetting that just five minutes ago I was pissed off at American Dream for not answering my letters.

I grab Max's arm and drag him to the living room. We both fall down onto the couch, and Max picks up the remote and switches to MTV. At the moment all that it's showing is some other pop star's video, which I really couldn't care less about. Max and I sit there gormlessly for a while, watching with no real interest, when suddenly the four faces of American Dream appear on the screen. I scream. No matter how many times I see their faces, and trust me, I see them a lot, I can never quite get over how gorgeous they all are. In the middle is Dan, the lead singer. He has floppy light brown hair and gorgeous hazel eyes, and this totally adorable dimple in his left cheek. To the right of him is James, the bass guitarist, who has black hair and dark brown eyes. Then on the right of James is Bobby, the drummer, who has his hair dyed in all sorts of rainbow colours and contacts that are electric purple. Then on Dan's left is the lead guitarist, Freddie who has blonde hair and big blue eyes. I feel my insides melting as I look at all of them, they are such an inspiration and so totally great. I remember my mom telling me that sixteen is way to old to be so obsessed with any kind of band or whatever, but I so don't care. American Dream aren't just some band or whatever, they're like gods. Then the video starts. I watch it feeling amazed, because they're so, so good.

Feeling the weights on my shoulders, can't push these boulders much further.  

Thought maybe I'd get the time to get her off my mind, was that too much to hope? 

She's starin' into my eyes, piercing my through my mind, tell me, what happened to us? 

Wishing she could leave me, I can feel myself grievin', why can't I just let you gooooo? Oh! 

I sit watching in total rapture, as Dan sings so heartbrokenly, so beautifully, wondering what happened to the girl he once loved. I feel my heart breaking too. If I ever find the girl that did that to him, I think I might just kill her. I watched the video for the full 4 minutes and 38 seconds that it went for, not moving or saying a word.  

"THAT WAS SO AMAZING!" I scream when the video has finished. Max just sighs and shakes his head.  

"All their music is about exactly the same shit. A girl who broke his heart and now he misses her, blah blah blah." he tells me. I gasp, horrified with what my brother has just said. 

"That is so not true, Max!" I say, "all their music is so deep and sentimental. I wish that all guys could be that amazing. I swear, if any of the boys at our school was even half as decent as them, I would be dating him by now." Max rolls his eyes and stands up.  

"I'm going to go get a cookie." he says 

"Again?" 

"I'm going for a surf afterwards, I'll burn off plenty of calories." 

"Sure Max. Whatever you say." 

I go back to watching MTV. By now another band's music video is playing, and it isn't nearly half as good as American Dream's. When the music video is finished, the host of the show appears on the screen. I roll my eyes, and pick up the remote to turn the TV off, when I something catches my eye.  

American Dream's Midwestern winner announced! 

What?  

"Well folks, after a long time waiting it looks like the Meet American Dream competition has finally been won! The winner is Caroline North from Saint Paul, Minnesota!" The picture on the screen switches to a girl who looks to be about sixteen; the same age as me. But that isn't what I find interesting. What I find interesting, is the fact that the girl on TV, looks just like me.