T he year was 2000. Y2K came and went and a group of four childhood best friends had something more important to worry about now: middle school. Would boys like them? Would they be popular? Would they stick together?

That summer, they found a way to briefly escape the future. In a Santa Rosa, California guest room-turned-studio, they imagined they were the Spice Girls and transformed into X-Cetra , a pop group they conceived. And with the help of one self-taught producer mom, they believed their pop dreams could become a reality.

Ayden Mayeri, Jessica Hall, and Janet Washburn were 11 going on 12 at the time. They had seen enough teen movies and had some anxiety about what to expect, but they had a few months before entering junior high. They ran around their safe, idyllic neighborh

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