In my life, there have been many defining moments. Some good, some bad. This one, truly was a mixture of both. At first, I felt like it had empowered me. But once it was all over, it left a trail of inner chaos that would take me a very long time to recover from. Or maybe, I didn't ever recover from it? Maybe I just emotionally evolved?

The good and confident place that I used to be in, continued until I was nearly eighteen. Working at the vets had been going incredibly well. My skin was so much better. My past, no longer felt like a weight around my ankles. And mum and dad...well, they were still mum and dad.

I was too busy to be worrying about what they were up to. You could say, mum had mellowed somewhat. While dad was just his usual, keep-me-on-the-outskirts-of-his-life. Not that it mattered. I was only concentrating on my own life at the time. I became too unbothered to be wanting to care about either of theirs.

I was still having fun discovering the real me. I was enjoying looking forward and no longer back...then, I met Brandon.

He came into my life, and I literally fell into his...I mean, literally.

Myself and another trainee veterinary nurse went to Brighton to watch a boy band from America. I won't reveal who. You only need to know that they were a hugely popular American boy band. They were massive—worldwide massive. I had a huge crush on one of them, and the strange thing about it all, was when I used to watch their music videos, I would look at him and I just knew that one day, I would eventually meet him.

That spiritual knowing, I shall save for another time to explain. For now, I'll only explain how I came to meet Brandon.

For a pre-birthday treat, my mum had arranged for two of her friends to take myself and Sadie to the concert. The plan was, they would drop us off, then pick us back up in the evening. Absolutely thrilled to have finally arrived at the concert venue, my mum and her friends then drove as close as they possibly could get to the arena, so they could then safely leave us. It was while I was getting out of the car, that my attention became preoccupied with screams of girlie hysteria. Strutting towards me, was an overly confident chap, flanked by four burly bodyguards, and being hysterically followed by a large group of fans. I know that I had stared at this guy as he strutted towards the car that I was just getting out of. Okay, he looks like a Buchanan, but he isn't Beau Buchanan. Was what I had said in my own head. Obviously, this guy was somehow related to Beau, but he wasn't Beau. I knew that, because Beau was the one that I had my huge crush on. But this strutting fella, he sure did look like Beau Buchanan. And clearly, all the screaming girls who were manically following him and his bodyguards, must have thought that he really was Beau. That amused me. It had amused me so much, that I was laughing hard as I closed the car door. As mum and her friends drove off, I was still laughing hard. The Beau look-a-like was just about to pass me, and all I could do was still laugh while girls were screaming and crying behind him. "Beau! Oh my God, it's Beau!" They had whined and sobbed.

My amusement, had amused him.

Only, while I was still laughing, I tripped on the kerb, which then caused him to start laughing at me. In turn, we were now both laughing at one another.

With the fan mayhem loudly still following him, he kept looking back at me, continuing to smile my way. Then once he had eventually disappeared from sight, myself and Sadie decided to join the absolutely horrendous and boringly long concert queue.

I'd never been to a huge concert before, so the experience was a very new and overwhelming one for me. The fans for this boy band, were crazy—loud, excitable, hectic—in the end, myself and Sadie decided to remove ourselves from the crazy queue, and just go and have a little wander around before they opened the arena doors.

That decision, was what led me right to Brandon.

Sadie and I were just aimlessly wandering around. As we had strolled past some tour buses all neatly parked beside one another, it was then that I heard someone whistling for attention. Not being able to make out from where it had came from, we continued to aimlessly wander. The whistling got louder, more insistent. "Over here!" A voice had called out to us.

Honing in on the voice, I eventually saw a head peeping out of the door of one of the tour buses. "Hey, come and talk to me over here?" It was the Beau Buchanan look-a-like.

Intrigued, I had approached him with a smile. "Hello." Was all I could say with the same intrigued smile still sat upon my face.

"What's your name?" The interesting American had asked me.

"Mary Rose, and this is my friend Sadie."

With much charm, he smiled. "Nice to meet you, girls." He casually then came off the bus, so he could come closer. "You both here for the concert?"

Nodding, I soon gave him an answer. "Yeah, we are."

That's when he smirked. "So what are you doing over here, then?"

Somewhat coy, I was honest. "Well, those fans are just a little crazy. A little too crazy for us, so we thought we would occupy ourselves until it was time for the concert."

Quietly impressed, the friendly American held out his hand to me. "I'm Brandon, Beau's brother...it's lovely to meet you, Mary Rose."

I won't lie, I wanted to squeal.

I wanted to do a happy clappy dance.

"You've quite some time until the concert starts, how about you and I take a little tour around Brighton?" Brandon charmingly, and surprisingly, asked me.

I remember I had looked from him, then to Sadie—conflicted.

"It's okay, you go on...I'm sure I'll keep myself occupied until you're back." Sadie had so kindly told me.

"My crew will look after your friend, they're a friendly bunch." He had grinned at both myself and Sadie, just to wittily assure us.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Guiltily, I had asked Sadie.

She had just smiled, urging me to stop feeling so guilty. "Just go and have fun. I'll see you later."

Feeling both flattered and unsettled, I selfishly decided to just go with my gut. "Okay, let's go and see Brighton!"

Pleased, Brandon just clasped his hand around mine, then together, and two of his bodyguards, we started walking.

In that moment, I think my feet were actually floating just above the pavements and the roads that we walked along. In that moment, I was being swept along by the brush with fame and the American charm of Brandon.

It really did happen just like that.

Insanely and excitedly, just like that.

I was just me. Mary Rose.

I was a nobody.

A pretender.

The damaged girl who used to pretend she lived down Dandelion Lane.

But while my hand was held by Brandon, I knew that my life was about to change. Good or bad...it was about to change.