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Chapter 1 “Westlife?? You mean you like Westlife?!” 16- year- old Kristine gaped at her best friend, Jessica. Jessica was just telling Kristine about the new act, Westlife. Kristine never liked Westlife ever since their song, Swear It Again, was being played over and over on radio. It could get very irritating at times. “You’ll like them. There’s a segment on them today on MTV. Watch it.” Jessica told Kristine. Kristine sighed and nodded. “Sure. I’ve always liked boybands, except Boyzone and BSB, anyway. I’ll see if I like them.” “This is Westlife??” Kristine stared at the TV, “They look so much different from the Swear It Again EP.” “Shh. Be quiet and watch.” Jessica hissed, staring at the TV. “Hi! We’re Westlife.” Kristine checked out the five young Irish lads sitting comfortably on a sofa. They introduced themselves. Kristine was attracted to the youngest 18-year-old Westlife member, Mark Feehily. He had a deep but soothing voice. He also had a dimple on his cheek whenever he smiled. At the end of the segment, they sang a acappella version of Swear It Again. Kristine was lost for words. “Do you like them now?” Jessica prompted. “They’re fantastic!” Kristine marvelled, “I have to buy the Swear It Again EP.” “And the If I Let You Go EP.” Jessica added, “That’s their new song and it’s fantastic.” Kristine grinned. “And their debut album when it comes out.” She giggled. Westlife was indeed one of the best new acts she had ever known. Chapter 2 A few months later, Kristine had just come back from a holiday with her sister. When she reached the airport, she realised that Westlife had just arrived earlier that day and she had missed them at the airport, she was bummed. While she and her sister were waiting for a cab as transport, she found a passport on the floor. “Hmm… from Sligo, Ireland… Mark Feehily?!!” Kristine gasped. Kristine waited impatiently by the reception at Hilton Hotel; the hotel Westlife was staying in. The receptionist had called Mark from Westlife's hotel suite, and he was on his way down. "Um... you're Kristine, right?" Kristine turned around, and was shocked to see Mark Feehily standing in front of her. He smiled shyly. "You found my passport?" he asked. Kristine nodded nervously. She wanted to scream out loud: "MARK WESTLIFE IS STANDING IN FRONT OF ME!" but she reminded herself that it was a public place, and she did not want to embarrass herself, especially in front of Mark. She handed the passport to Mark. Mark thanked her. He checked his passport, then looked up at her again. "Do you wanna come up to the hotel? I want to show the rest who my benefactor is." Kristine could not believe her ears. She was Mark's benefactor? "S-sure." she stammered. When they reached the suite, Kristine gaped at the four boys sitting around in the big suite. She couldn’t believe that they were the ones she saw at the front of the Westlife CD cover, looking better in real life. Nicky was the first one to notice her. “Hey Mark, where did you get that lovely laydee from?” he teased. Kristine blushed. Mark smiled proudly. “Guys, this is Kristine, the girl who found my passport. She’s my benefactor.” “Benefactor??” Kian and Shane looked at each other, and tried to keep a straight face. Mark rolled his eyes. Then he grinned at Kristine. “We’re having dinner tonight at a restaurant. Why don’t you join us? You could bring a friend too.” “Sure.” Kristine replied shyly. She couldn’t wait to tell Jessica everything! “He what?” Jessica stared at Kristine in disbelief. Kristine grinned. “Great, isn’t it?” she gloated. “So who are you going to bring along to the dinner? Me?” “Who else?” “YEAHHHHHHHHH!” Kristine and Jessica waited outside Kristine’s house. Soon, a black convertible pulled up, with Mark at the wheel. Kristine waved and got into the front passenger seat. Jessica slowly sat down beside her. There was enough space for three people at the front. Mark smiled at Jessica. “Who’s the young lady you brought, Kristine?” Jessica giggled and Kristine said, “The ‘young’ lady here is my best friend, Jessica.” Mark laughed. “Nice to meet ya, Jess.” He greeted. Jessica blushed. Kristine gave her a wink. Soon, they reached the restaurant. It was one of the most expensive restaurants in town. Mark brought the two best friends into a private room. His mates were already waiting there. Beside Kristine, Jessica gasped when she saw the guys. She whispered, “They look so gorgeous!” They all sat down. Kristine sat with Mark, and Jessica plopped down beside her. Throughout the whole dinner, Jessica kept staring at Mark. Kristine noticed it. She was wondering, Jessica always fancied Kian. Why the sudden change? Mark had sent Jessica home and now he was parked outside Kristine’s house. Kristine sighed happily. “This is one of the most wonderful days of my life. I’m so glad that you invited Jessica and I to dinner. It was really special.” Mark blushed. “Well… our first concert here isn’t until tomorrow… we were free, so why not give you a treat for helping me find my passport?” He looked down at his hands. Kristine giggled. “Thanks anyway.” she said and gave Mark a kiss on the cheek. Kristine was just getting out of the car when Mark called her. She turned around, and Mark leaned over and kissed her passionately. Chapter 3 Jessica paid Westlife a visit before their concert. They were at the hotel lobby. Mark noticed her and walked over. “Hey, Jessica, right? What’s up?” Jessica smiled sweetly. “Just came to wish you guys luck before you head for the concert.” “Great,” Mark nodded, “Where’s Kristine?” He looked over Jessica’s shoulder. Jessica frowned. “She didn’t want to come with me. I persuaded her, but she said she had better things to do.” She fibbed. Mark’s face fell. “Oh well. If she were here, I would have asked her whether she wanted to go backstage. Maybe I’ll give her a ring.” He reached for his hand phone. Jessica panicked, and she shook her head vigorously. “Don’t waste it. She said that she didn’t want you to call and added that just in case, she would go surfing on the Internet so you couldn’t get through.” Another close one. Mark looked very disappointed. He shrugged. “Fine then. Why don’t you come along instead?” he suggested. Jessica’s face lit up. “I’d love to!” she cried. Ha, she thought, now Mark will have no interest in Kristine and I have a chance! Kristine stared at the phone. Mark had not called for a long time. He had only called once, and he didn’t sound interested. Maybe he found a cute babe by the beach, she thought, snorting at the idea. To cool off, she decided to make a trip to the mall nearby. Shopping might make her feel better. Half an hour later, Kristine was sitting at Anderson’s ice cream parlour. She was still very bored and grumpy. “Oh, I loved the movie. We could watch it over and over and it would still be enjoyable.” Kristine turned to the familiar voice of her best friend. Jessica was walking past Anderson’s, and Mark was beside her! Kristine gasped. So Mark hadn’t called me - because of Jessica? She thought, a tear trickling down her cheek. Her hope for Mark was shattered. Chapter 4 Nicky Byrne had some free time to himself one day, so he decided to pay Kristine, the girl he sort of admired, a visit. The Ghost of Kristine answered the door. Nicky drew back. “Wow, you look like you haven’t slept, Kris.” Kristine mumbled something, and then smiled faintly. “Come in.” Minutes later, Nicky and Kristine were sitting on a sofa. “I haven’t seen you with Mark lately. Were you busy?” Nicky started the conversation. “Nah, he was busy.” Kristine blurted out, then looked away. “Huh?” Nicky knew something was wrong. “Well, I mean, he’s always too busy so we haven’t contacted each other. That’s all.” Kristine said quite truthfully. “Busy with what?” Nicky wanted to know. He reached for the glass of ice lemon tea that Kristine had prepared for him. Kristine decided to tell him everything. “Okay, he’s busy with my best friend.” Nicky choked on his drink, and started coughing. Kristine banged him on the back. “I’m okay!” he gasped. He looked up at Kristine, and she giggled. “Sorry. Did I hurt your back?” “Not really.” Nicky grinned. He then turned serious. “Your best friend? Jessica?” Kristine nodded, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Nicky quickly grabbed her hand. “Sshh… don’t cry.” He assured her. He had seen his girlfriend Georgina cry too, and he had lots of experience for calming a girl down. Kristine told him everything, from the night of the dinner to the incident at the Anderson’s ice cream parlour. Nicky’s seriousness grew to anger. “I didn’t know that Mark was like that.” He said, “I always thought of him as a sensible guy, but…” Nicky promised Kristine that he would talk to Mark. Kristine was a bit doubtful, but she nodded. Nicky walked into the suite and found Mark daydreaming. “Ahem.” Nicky interrupted. Mark looked up. “Hey.” He greeted and made space for Nicky on his bed. “So, any girl that has taken your interest?” Nicky asked. Mark grinned. “Yup.” “Okay, give me clues.” “She’s nice, pretty, caring, wonderful, like Mariah Carey…” “Oh, I know! Kristine, the girl who found your passport! Am I right?” Nicky cried, finding that it was going according to plan. Mark stared at him. “No.” “But why? I talked to her today and she was really nice, pretty, caring, wonderful, and totally Mariah.” Mark frowned. “But I don’t like her. I prefer her best friend, Jessica.” Nicky glared at him. “Do you know what? Kristine told me that she likes you a lot and you never take interest in her. Instead, you hurt her and date her best friend.” “Jessica told me that Kristine has no interest in me.” “Not true. Kristine likes you. I think she’s in love with you.” Mark paused. “Before our first concert, Jessica came and told me that Kristine doesn’t want to have anything to do with me.” “Kristine isn’t the sort that would lie.” “Are you saying that Jessica is the liar?” “Exactly.” Mark raised an eyebrow. “I think I’ll talk to Kristine.” Jessica paid Kristine a visit later that day. She was in a happy as Alexia mood. “Went out with somebody famous?” Kristine muttered. “As a matter of fact, yeah.” “Mark Michael Patrick Feehily?” “Yeah… huh? How did you know?” Kristine glared at her best friend. “I thought you knew I liked Mark? If you wanted to go for a Westlifer, why didn’t you go for Kian, the one you liked?” Jessica grinned slyly. “Well, since you liked Mark, I figured I would go for him too.” Kristine had enough. She started yelling at Jessica. “That’s really unfair you know! Why must you be so selfish? You’re my best friend!” Jessica stood there calmly. “Who says I’m your best friend? I don’t want to be your friend. You keep yelling at me and you want to have Mark. But too bad, dahling. He’s mine.” Kristine wanted to reach out and grab Jessica, but her older sister, Evelyn, stepped into the room. “What’s wrong?” “Sis! Guess what? Remember Mark, the Westlifer I was telling you about? You know I like him, right? And you know that Jessica likes Kian. Now she says that Mark was hers all along.” Kristine complained. Evelyn shrugged. “It’s not my business. But if you really need help, I think Jessica should just let Kristine have Mark.” “Stay out of this!” Jessica yelled at Evelyn and pushed her hard. Evelyn staggered backwards and lost her balance, tumbling headfirst down the stairs. “Eve!” Kristine screamed. She sprinted down the stairs. Evelyn lay motionless on the ground, a pool of blood forming from her head. Just then, Mark opened the front door. “Kris-” “Call the ambulance!!!” Kristine screamed, “My sis is in trouble!” Chapter 5 Kristine bit her fingernails as she waited for the doctor to come out of the operation room. The light was on for two hours, what could have gone wrong? Kristine sobbed away as she waited. Soon, the doctor came out. “Doctor? How is my sis…?” Kristine braced for the answer. The doctor took a deep breath and said, “There was too much bleeding, twenty three broken bones, and together with lots of internal injuries…I’m sorry.” “Ohhh nooooo….” Kristine wailed and collapsed to the floor, sobbing. Just then, Mark appeared, together with Jessica. He glanced at the doctor, then knelt down beside Kristine. Then he sang softly in her ear. “Hush now don’t you cry, there will be a better day, I promise you. We can work it out, but only if you let me know what’s on your mind. Baby, you thought it was forever, like any kind of weather. But someday you will find what you’re searching for. Try again, never stop believing, Try again, don’t give up on your love. Stumble and fall, is the heart of it all. So when you fall down, just try again.” Kristine sniffed and looked into Mark’s eyes. “Okay. I will.” She replied, feeling a bit better. Jessica was arrested for the act of violence. Mark explained everything to Kristine, and vice versa. Soon everything was fine. Westlife carried on touring around the world, and whenever they had a break, Mark would fly back to visit Kristine. Even though Mark was very much in love with Kristine, he was still too shy to say anything to her. Chapter 6 When Kristine turned seventeen, there was rioting in her town. Kristine didn’t care what they were rioting about, but she felt frightened and often stayed in her house. She emailed Mark about it. Dear Mark, there’s rioting going on in my town. It’s really scary. When you’re free, please come and fetch me at the airport. I’ve packed my bag, and I’m ready to leave and go to Sligo with you. –Kris Soon, she received a reply. Dear Kris, you’re in luck. I’m allowed to come and fetch you. We’ll be able to be safely together. And another thing. Check your mailbox. Kristine checked her mailbox and found a small package. She opened it, and found a pretty diamond ring, with the message: WILL YOU MARRY ME? Choking back tears, Kristine promised to say yes to him when she met him. There was heavy rioting near the airport. Kristine had to be careful, and she managed to wait safely for Mark. Soon, he arrived. Looking stylish as usual, he sashayed through the crowd, and his eyes fell on Kristine. “Mark!” Kristine waved. She did not notice that the rioters had entered the airport and a shootout began. She ran towards Mark, but a gunman noticed her. Kristine was close to embracing Mark when she heard a gunshot and felt a bullet enter her heart. She collapsed on the floor. “Kristine! Noo!!!!!!” Mark’s voice echoed through the airport. He knelt down to the corpse and tears fell from his eyes. He held Kristine’s hand and felt something. She was wearing the engagement ring he had sent her. She might not be alive to say it, but she accepted his proposal. Soon, police entered the airport and arrested all the gunmen, but Mark didn’t move. He wanted to take one last look at Kristine, the girl that he had almost married. HERE LIES THE BODY OF KRISTINE EARTH-FEEHILY 29th APRIL 1983-18th MAY 2000 SADLY MISSED BY WESTLIFE ESPECIALLY FIANCE, MARK FEEHILY |