Page 23 of Hard Rock Heat
"Homelessteens."
Instead of being taken aback like I had been, she nodded thoughtfully. "That makessense."
I frowned. "How?"
"Everyone knows the twins were living on the street before they joined the band," Katherine said matter offactly.
My heart squeezed in my chest, remembering Damon'swords.
This is an issue close to myheart.
Ian is myfamily.
I regretted not asking Damon more about his family that night. He and Ian had lived on the street. How young had they been? Young enough, I supposed, if Damon's altruism for homeless and at-risk teens was anything to go by. What had happened to their parents? Hope had never said. Maybe it was too personal. Toopainful.
I understood that all toowell.
"You're right about a golf tournament being the complete opposite of a rock star event," Katherine said. "Don't suppose you can just throw a charityconcert?"
"Damon wants to involve the fans in a more intimate way," I replied. "He also wants to do something for the kids directly. Invite them to the event, give them VIPtreatment."
Katherine's mouth twisted in thought. "What about a sleepout?"
"Sleepout?"
"It's when people sleep outside for a night to experience homelessness. Sometimes it's CEOs and mayors and other people in positions of power who do it. Sometimes it's just students doing a fundraiser. My own high school did something like that. It was always the most popular event of theyear."
I was about to retort that Damon Drake would never want to sleep outside in a cardboard box, then stopped. If he'd been homeless, he might have done justthat.
I kept having to rethink everything I knew about theman.
"So Damon would sleep outside to raise money?" I wondered outloud.
"Not just him," Katherine said, beginning to get excited. "The whole band. Maybe their celebrity friends could join in. It could be the biggest fundraising event of the year. Fans could donate to enter a lottery for a chance to take part. Like one big sleepover. Each band could play a song or two. It would be partly a fan event, and partly a fundraiser. And those at-risk kids you invite, maybe they get the rock star treatment. Maybe they get to party in the Darkest Days tour bus for a night, live like rockstars."
"That's…" I was at a loss for words. Katherine looked at me with uncertainty, waiting for my reaction to her idea. "That's brilliant," I finishedsaying.
Her face lit up. "Yeah?"
I nodded emphatically. "Yes. You just solved my entireproblem."
"Does that mean I get a raise?" she grinned. "Oh wait, you'd have to be paying me in the first place forthat."
My own sister had done a string of unpaid internships. I was aware of how much it sucked. "How about this. You help me plan this event, and I'll see about promoting you to a full time position as an eventcoordinator."
Katherine nearly dropped the papers she was holding. "Seriously?"
"You've got a good head on your shoulders. You're reliable. If we can pull this off, I'm sure Martha will be open to theidea."
If we pulled this off, I was sure Martha would give me a promotion of my own. I'd been itching to go from events specialist to events manager. I already managed interns, albeit they wereunpaid.
This event might end up being good for everyoneinvolved.
Katherine let out a high-pitched squeak, then cleared her throat, looking vaguely abashed at her reaction. "That would be wonderful, thank you," she said steadily. She couldn't hide her ear-to-ear smile. Katherine reminded me a lot of myself when I'd first startedout.
"I need you to put together a report on these sleep out things," I told her. "How they work, other famous sleep outs that have made the news, and anything else you can think of. I'll need that before the end of theweek."
"I'm on it!" Katherine practically bounced out of myoffice.
