1998 (12 years old)
"He's making those pants look really good." Deidra said as she munched on popcorn next to me.
I giggled, resting my chin on my knees as the In the Closet music video played on my tiny television screen. The volume was on low so my Mom wouldn't hear it in the other room.
"Do you think they actually kissed before?" I whispered, watching in jealousy as the woman on the screen clung to Michael.
"Probably. They come really close to it in the video."
We bobbed our head to the beat, smiling as we watched our Michael do his thing on the screen. Of course it wasn't the first time we seen it. Along with every other video he had made, we'd seen them all enough to redo them if we wanted to, but it didn't stop us from still getting really excited when one played.
"To just... keep it in the closet!" We sang loudly.
"What are you girls doing in there?" My mom yelled.
"Nothing!" I yelled back as Deidra and I snickered.
The video ended and we both layed back on my bed, looking up at my Thriller poster that hung over my bed.
"Shan?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you think he's doing right now?"
"I bet he's practicing a new dance move."
"I bet he's reading a bed time story to Prince."
I smile, "Yeah, maybe."
The bed shifts and we both face each other on my small comforter.
"Shan, why do you think Brian Connor said all that stuff today at lunch?"
"I don't know... Because he's cruel. Why else would he say it?"
"I was just thinking about it..."
"Why?" I sighed, "It's not like we haven't heard worse."
She suddenly laughs, "I think Cassie almost choked that Megan girl on the playground for saying our group is weird."
"I can see it."
"I think Cassie got detention for it."
"Well she's the one that said 'If you insult MJ you insult me'. And I don't think she takes lightly to being insulted. Megan should know to watch out."
I lean over and press play on my stereo. The first chords to Human Nature start and I close my eyes, feeling at total peace.
The door to my bedroom opens and in comes the rest of our group; Cassie, Macy, and Bridgett. They all sit down on my floor and Deidra and I join them.
I look around the group and smile. We're all so different that it still astounds me how one guy could have brought us all together. But that was the power of Michael Jackson.
It didn't matter what was going on in our normal lives and how much of a contrast they seemed to be. When it came to Michael we all had one thing in common, and that was we'd do anything for him. He had touched our hearts and we were grateful for the privilege. And when we sat down and talked about him you wouldn't have had a clue how different our backgrounds actually were. People who would have otherwise had nothing to do with one another.
Cassie was the product of a broken home. Having been living with her Mother and Father, and then her Father and step Mother, before finally settling down at her Aunt Gwen's house all by the age of nine. On the outside she seemed like a lost kid. Always getting into fights when she got the chance and sometimes talking back to teachers, but we knew the real her. She was protective about the people she cared about
Macy was rather shy on the outside. Pin pointed as the "quiet" girl in school and picked on quite a lot for not sticking up for herself when people tired to push her around - but Cassie put a stop to that. Macy was an amazing artist too, and if people at school seen her talk about MJ with the enthusiasm she did while she was around us, I have a feeling they wouldn't believe it's actually her. She told us she felt a connection to him because of his naturally shy nature and how she understood it. But she loved how it didn't stop him from taking his career further.
Bridgett was beautiful with her blue eyes and long blonde hair. The type of girl that only got prettier as she got older until she became gorgeous - and that was exactly what happened as we all grew up. She came from a rich family with a Father who was the CEO of a major corporation. She was the type of kid who you'd expect to turn her nose up at the thought of being a fan of a celebrity, and who would giggle at the "silliness" of it all. But in reality she was just as big a fan as anyone we'd ever met. She had told us though that she loved him so much because of how humble he was even with his mass millions.
Deidra was the backbone of our small group. Without her I don't know what we'd do, but not nearly enough things would have ran so smoothly without her precise planning and amazing leadership skills. Her love for MJ was one that was genuine. There was no big event that made her realize what a good person he was or anything of that sort. She loved him because she did, and that was just that. It was weaved into her DNA at birth and we believed that. It was a running joke that she never actually decided that she loved Michael, it just came as natural to her as breathing.
And then there was me. I wasn't quite sure how I fit into the scene. I wasn't grandfathered into the Moonwalker scene like Dee was and there wasn't really anything that made me relate to Michael in anyway. I just adored him. Everything that he did and said made me happy. He made me happy. I just knew that he was, and always would be, a big part of my life. I couldn't explain it.
"Okay, Moonwalkers -,"
Cassie giggles, "Whoever made that name up was a genius." She pauses for a beat. "Oh yeah, it was me!" She smirks.
"Shamoners is still our second choice, right?" Macy asks.
"Of course," Dee answers.
"Did we save enough money for the Michael magazine at the Save Lots store?"
"Wait, before we start, we need to say our Moonwalkers oath."
We had done this many times before so everyone knew the drill and spoke their lines loud and clear.
Sitting around in a circle we all raised our right hands.
"I am a Moonwalker.
I will always love Michael and I will never believe the rumors in the tabloids.
I'll never stop fighting for the truth and I will always try to make the world a better place.
I'll stick up for Moonwalkers alike because we're a family no matter what.
And family sticks together."
"Do you have the list, Macy?"
She reaches into her book bag and unfolds a crumpled piece of paper before hanging it by one of my many MJ posters on the wall.
On it is a list of things we all decided we want to accomplish in life.
Go to Neverland
Get his autograph
Go to his concert
⭐Meet Michael Jackson.
The last one had a gold star next to it. We only dreamed about meeting the man who changed all of our lives.
We were just like any other kids, but instead of obsessing over people our own age, we just so happened to have one man as the apple of our eye. And that just so happened the be the biggest celebrity on the planet.
It was so simple back then. Before life got in the way. When our school books where covered in cutout pictures of Michael, and we got in trouble for playing our music too loud in the library.
A time before dating and marriage and bank loans and houses got in the way. A time of pure innocence.
The days when a simple MJ song could fix the world and we could count on each other to always be there. When our future jobs included being Michael Jacksons security guard, private doctor, backup singers, and photographer, so we all would be together.
We promised that, just like MJ, we'd never grow up. And we never planned to. But sometimes life doesn't care about your plans.
Even though we grew up we were still the biggest Michael fans that you'd ever meet. We still held Moonwalker meetings but sometimes they were over shadowed by having to fill out college applications. We still sang and listened to his songs, but now we did it while we studied for final exams. I even remember wearing my MJ Thriller T-shirt on my first date because it made me less nervous. It just went to show that no matter what stages in life we were currently in, he would always be apart of it.
Once a Moonwalker always a Moonwalker.