Rock and Roll Ruined My Life- Chapter 39- First Stop

I tried not to look upset when we pulled into our new home: the parking lot of the arena. Sure, moving was part of being on tour, but so much had happened at the RV Center it was hard not to miss it.

“Here we are!” Our driver, who’s name turned out to be Jerry, announced as he parked the bus. Before anyone else could un-strap I stood up and walked to the back to finish changing and brush my hair. We had stopped once for a bathroom break on the way down and I had almost finished changing when they began driving again.

I parted my hair and braided it. As I tied it I noticed my split ends were becoming more noticeable. ‘I have to ask Lindsey for a haircut,’ I mentally noted to myself. I pulled on my hoodie and stepped out of the bathroom.

“Where are we?” I asked.
“Somewhere you should be familiar with,” Ray replied, shrugging on his jacket.
“Did you fall asleep sitting up or something? You couldn’t miss the sign,” Bob laughed.
“Actually, I think I might have,” I laughed.
“Well, we’re in Manhattan,” Gerard shrugged on his jacket and gave me an are-you-going-to-be-okay look. I nodded and stared out the window eagerly.
“How long are we going to be here?”
“Two, three days. Why?”
“Yes! Do I have to go to any meeting or anything with you guys?”
“No…”
“But you need to have someone else from tour with you at all times. We can’t lose you over here.”
“How could I get lost in my own city?” I shrugged.
“Good question, but it’s still possible… You should take everyone on a tour. Show them your favorite pizza place or take them to Rockefeller center or something.”
“I guess I could. But do you know how hard it’s going to be to keep everyone together? Plus, I want to see the arena you’re playing at! Speaking of which, what arena are you playing at?”

I saw all of the guys exchange looks before breaking out into big grins.

“Just tell me!” I whined.
“Madison Square Garden,” they grinned.
“Oh. My. God! You guys have to let me on stage just once before everyone comes in. Please! I just want to stand there and see what it looks like,” I pleaded.
“If you promise not to go off on your own and fall asleep like you did last time,” Mikey bargained, bringing up my breakup with Tim. I felt my stomach churn a bit.
“Ugh. Fine I promise! Just let me go on the stage, please.”
“You better come to the meeting then. That way you can just sneak off and wander.”
“How do you guys know I do that?” I laughed.
“We always know. Everyone on tour knows who you are,” Frank said matter-of-factly.
“Alright. I’m ready! Let’s go, c’mon! See ya’ later Jerry!” I waved as I hopped off the bus.

I looked around the lot and saw the peaks of buildings sticking out from behind the wall of buses. I felt a bubble of excitement build in my gut. It had been so long since I had been here, and I was finally back! A million thoughts raced through my head as I remembered my old stomping ground. I took in a deep breath and coughed- the air was filled with the smell of gasoline and fumes from the trains and buses- I was home!

“Someone’s happy,” I heard a voice address me. I turned to see All Time Low, Paramore, and the All-American Rejects walking towards me.

“You guys don’t understand. It’s been so long since I’ve been here!”
“Since when did you ever come to Manhattan on a daily basis?” Josh asked.
“I was born and raised here!”
“What?!” Everyone from Paramore and AAR exclaimed.

“It’s a long story, which I don’t feel like explaining right now, but I will later I promise. I just want to go and stand on stage inside, and then I’ll take all of you guys out for a long walk. Make sure you wear good sneakers and you have layers because we are going to have so much fun!” I finished in a rush. There was a moment of silence- they had never seen me this happy ever. Not even Jack.

“I’m in!” Tyson nodded, looking at his band mates for support.
“Yeah I’m in too,” his guitarist, Nick, agreed.
“I’m in mother fuckers!” Jack exclaimed.
“I’m in!” Alex, Rian, and Zack nodded.
“We’re in,” Hayley spoke on behalf of her band.
“We’re in too,” AAR’s drummer and rhythm guitarist nodded.

“Awesome!” I smiled, “We just have to get through this one meeting and then we are free to go!”

“Let’s get this party started!” Jack yelled, catching onto my enthusiasm.

I tried to push away all of my negative thoughts from my mind as we entered the Square from the backdoor. A cold wind followed us inside and I shivered. I felt Jack throw his arms around me; I looked up and smiled at him. I wasn’t going to let anything ruin the fabulous mood I was in.

*

“That meeting was torture!” Alex exclaimed as we burst out of the big office we had met in for the “Beginning of Tour” meeting.
“I know you guys want to go out, and I do too, but can we please just go down to the stage for five minutes so that I can stand on it? I’ve always wanted to,” I begged, my eyes growing wide with the thought of being in the center of the arena.
“Sure! Let’s go!” Jack yelled walking off down the hallway.
“Um, Jack? The elevator’s this way,” I called after him.

He made a sharp turn and walked right past us, his arm out in a silent battle cry. He charged at the wall and hit the button so hard we heard his finger hit the plastic.

“Fuck!” he exclaimed. We all burst out laughing and walked over to him. The doors opened and we all climbed on.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
“No! That fucking hurt!” he pouted.
“Dwulie’s gunna kiss it and make it better, wittle Jacky,” Alex teased.
“You wish it was you!” I snorted.
“Oh!” Rian covered his mouth with his hand.
“She got you good, Alex!” Jeremy nodded.
“No I don’t,” Alex retorted.
“Yeah, okay, sure,” I nodded sarcastically.

“We’re here, let’s go get you to the damn stage,” he huffed, getting off the elevator and following the signs to the center of the arena.

Jack and I fell behind the others and I reached out for his hand and brought it up to my lips in a short kiss, then ran to catch up with Hayley.

“Oh. My. God!” I exclaimed as soon as I saw it. I broke out into a run and hopped on the stage. I looked around and felt an adrenaline rush build up in my veins. I could just hear the crowd roaring at me as I stood there, looking at all of the empty seats.

“You need to start a band soon, you look like you might die of happiness,” Tyson joked. He was talking to all of us a lot more now that we were all here. I couldn’t help but feel mesmerized by his eyes; they were so blue it hurt.
“I know,” I nodded, spinning around on stage one more time before stopping to take it all in.

“Alright!” I yelled, letting my voice be absorbed by the air around me.
“Whoa you’re loud,” I heard Zac say. Everyone laughed in agreement.
“Sing something!”
“Yeah you only get to do it once before we take over!”

“I don’t know what to sing,” I replied, still using my “out door” voice. I began pacing as I thought of what to sing.
“Can someone sing with me?” I asked.
“Okay, I’m coming!” Hayley said, rushing forward to the steps.
“C’mon Alex! C’mon Tyson! You guys too!”
“I’d rather save my voice,” Alex replied curtly.
“Don’t be mad at Julie, we’re all jealous of her!” Hayley grinned, extending her hand for him to take it.
“If he’s not going, then I am,” Tyson jogged forward.

Everyone burst out laughing and he joined us on stage. Finally, Alex gave in with a sigh and jogged forward too.

“Okay,” I gathered everyone into a huddle, “what’s a song they would all hate?”
“Oh, you’re evil,” Tyson grinned.
“Tell me about it… Um… there’s no song that I know of that we don’t like. Maybe we could sing some Disney shit?” Alex grinned.
“I like Hannah Montana!” Hayley smiled.
“Okay, what Hannah Montana song?”
“Um… If We Were A Movie?” Hayley suggested.
“Everyone know that one?” I asked.

Reluctantly, I saw Tyson and Alex nod. Hayley and I burst out laughing and then broke the huddle.

“Ready?” I asked as we all lined up next to each other.
“Let’s do this!” Hayley exclaimed.

I brought a hand up to my mouth as a fake microphone and everyone followed suit.

“One,”
“Two,”
“Three!”

“Uh-oh there you go again talking cinematic,” Hayley began.
“Yeah you! You’re charming, got everybody star struck!” I sang, looking at Alex as I did. He rolled his eyes and took the next line,
“I know, how you always seem to go.”
Tyson had no choice but to finish off the verse,
“For the obvious instead of me, but get a ticket and you’ll see:”

“IF WE WERE A MOVIE, YOU’D BE THE RIGHT GUY! AND I’D BE THE BEST FRIEND, THAT YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH! IN THE END WE’D BE LAUGHING, WATCHING THE SUNSET! FADE TO BLACK, SHOW THE NAMES, PLAY THE HAPPY SONG!”

Everyone joined in and jumped on stage. By the time we finished the song we were all clutching our sides in hysterics.

“Okay! Let’s get out of here,” I said, standing up and jogging to the exit sign.

*

“Okay so this is Rockefeller Center,” I showcased the busy street to my little tour group, who for the most part had on sunglasses even though it was not even March yet.
“Some of you should take off your glasses,” I added nonchalantly before walking over to the railing to show them the rest of the plaza.

“That obvious?” AAR’s dummer, who I learned was named Chris, asked, ripping off his shades.
“Yeah. Zac, Hunter, Mike, and Rian, you should take yours off too,” I nodded. They all nodded and took them off at the same time.
“You guys just cannot help but be obvious, right?” I sighed.
“Hey, we’re trying,” Hayley stuck out her tongue at me.
“I know, I know. Well anyways, that’s that. Now this is an important question: anyone allergic to anything?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Zack shook his head.
“Same,” everyone nodded.
“Alright then let’s go!”

I stepped out to turn around, only to bump into someone.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized.
“It’s alright,” they replied in an annoyed tone before continuing on their way.

Slowly, we both turned around to do a double take.

“Juliet, is that you?”
“Yeah,” I smiled sheepishly at one of my old classmates, Jessica.
“Whoa! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you!” she pulled me into a hug. It was kind of awkward since she was part of the borderline popular girl group like Kara and Lisa.
“How’ve you been?” I asked, trying to make conversation.
“Good. But how’ve you been? Are you still going to school here?”
“No actually, we moved out to New Jersey.”
“Oh, alright. I’m so sorry about your family,” she gave me a sympathetic look.
“Thanks,” I nodded, truly feeling thankful. I would have though everyone had forgotten about me by now…

“Who are you here with?” she glanced at Tyson who was standing a little too close to pretend he wasn’t with me.
“Oh my ‘parents’,” I used air quotes, even though it hurt, “let me walk around for a little bit with my- uh- friend, Tyson. Tyson Jessica, Jessica Tyson,” I quickly introduced them. “We have to be back in about five minutes though,” I frowned.
“I understand. Nice to meet you,” she held out her hand and he shook it. I could tell she was trying to place his face but she couldn’t- thank God for the sunglasses.
“We should stay in touch! Can I have your number?”
“Sure,” I nodded, telling her my digits as she typed furiously on her phone.
“Alright, I’ll see you around!”
“Tell everyone I say hello,” I said as I gave her a good-bye hug.
“I will! Catch ya’ later!” She waved.
“Bye!” I called out.

“Sorry about that,” I said as we rejoined the group.
“It’s fine. Who was that?”
“Jessica, who probably thinks Juliet and I are going out,” Tyson grinned.
“What?!” Jack whipped his head around to face us.
“I said he was my friend, calm down!” I rolled my eyes.
“Next time, you people should tell me what the game plan is,” Tyson turned on the rest of his tour mates.
“Sorry, we thought you were going to follow along,” his rhythm guitarist, Mike, shrugged.
“Don’t worry, once tour starts, everyone will know Jack and Julie are together,” Alex spoke up.
“And why is this?” I asked, a smile on my face.
“You two are always with each other. They’ll get the hint. Plus, people are going to be interviewing us and stuff, it’ll slip out eventually.”
“Oh, alright,” I nodded, my smile fading.
“He makes it sound like it’s a bad thing,” Hayley scoffed, putting an arm around my shoulder, “It’s a good thing. You don’t want people trying to steal your man! I mean, them knowing isn’t going to stop them from trying but still- it just helps to know people know.”
“Yeah, I guess so… A-alright guys, t-this is Ben’s Pizzeria!” I pointed to the sign as we came up to our destination.

“So this is it?” I heard Jack mutter.
“Yeah, this is it,” I sighed. I saw Tyson cock his head curiously at me- he had heard what Jessica had said before- then nod before we entered the busy restaurant.

“Hello, welcome to Ben’s, how many- Oh! Juliet! How are you?” the hostess, Maria walked over to pull me into a hug.
“I’m good, I’m good,” I smiled reassuringly.
“How are you? I didn’t get a chance to talk to you at the funeral,” she began apologizing.
“It’s alright and I’m doing good, just here with my friends,” I gestured to the crowd of punk rockers behind me.
“Oh! We’ll seat you all right away! Mario!” she called to her husband to point at me. I felt a grin spread across my face as he came out from behind the counter to give me a kiss on each cheek.

“Juliet! What a surprise!” he exclaimed, his Italian accent thickening his words.
“Hi, Mario,” I laughed, wiping flour off my cheeks.
“Oh! I apologize! Hey!” he called out to one of the waitresses walking by. She turned and gave me a knowing smile before walking over.
“Get this young lady and her friends a big table in the back, and get them any appetizers they want, on the house!”
“Oh, Mario you don’t have to-”
“-Yes I do! Now go! Eat and enjoy!” he waved us off.

“Damn!”
“Julie’s got connections!”
“Do you know everyone over here?”

“Ha ha, just about,” I laughed as the waitress sat us and took our orders.

“Not to be a nosy, but, what’s going on?” Tyson asked, taking off his sunglasses to look right at me. I saw everyone from Paramore turn to stare at me too.
“I promise you, I’ll explain later,” I said, trying to push all of my memories out of my mind as the waitress brought out our appetizers and drinks.

I saw Jack give Tyson a wary glance before digging into the food with the rest of us.

“Are you alright?” he asked me as we ate.
“Yeah, I’m doing okay so far,” I nodded reassuringly.
“Alright. Let me know if anyone’s bothering you… I’ll kick their ass!”
“Who’re we beating up?” Zack asked, cracking his knuckles. I smiled and patted his hands,
“No one just yet. But thank you.”

We finished eating and decided to catch a cab to Time Square.

“Whoa!” I caught Zac and Hunter’s arms right before they walked into the street.
“Why did we get dropped off down here?” Hayley asked.
“Cars aren’t really allowed to go through here since everyone is always walking around. Plus, it’s cheaper.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Yup! Now guys, promise me that you will all stay close. I say two feet in any direction will suffice.”
“I can do that,” Jack squished up against my side.
“Not that close!” I pushed him away and he stumbled into Chris, who stumbled into Mike who stumbled into Rian who stumbled into Jeremy who bumped into the business guy that shot us all a nasty look. I gave him a glare and he backed off.

“Here we are! Times Square,” I smiled.
“Whoa!”
“So many people!”
“Its so cold!”
“This is great, but my feet are killing me.”

“Wait! Before we catch a ride back, do you wanna see the naked cowboy?”
“Holy fuck yes!” Alex and Jack exclaimed. We all burst out laughing and we walked around until we found him. Sure enough, there he was, surrounded by a bunch of people.

“He’s so pale!” Hayley giggled.
“Yup! Go ahead, I’ll take the picture. Gimme your phones!” Everyone tossed me their phones and/or cameras and I began snapping away.

The cowboy played it up and struck a different pose each time. Jack and Alex played it up too.

“Bye, Mr. Cowboy! Thank you!” I waved before heading off back in the direction we came from.
“See ya!” he waved, hitting Alex and Tyson’s asses before he turned to take a picture with another group.

We had to stop walking that’s how hard we were laughing. Tyson’s face was too priceless for words. Alex on the other hand, looked completely unmoved by the whole experience.

“He didn’t slap my ass!” Jack pouted.
“Maybe next time,” I shrugged before telling the taxi driver to take us to Madison Square Garden.
“Just have Julie do it for you,” Alex smirked, making hand motions as he laughed. Everyone joined in and I felt my face flush as I reached over and hit him on the leg.

“She’s so abusive,” he fake pouted.
“Good,” I stuck out my tongue.
“Hey, hey, let’s get along here,” Hayley smiled.
“I’m getting along fine,” I laughed, “its Alex who has his knickers in a twist.”
“Knickers?” everyone snorted.
“Sorry, my parents used old fashioned lingo.”
“Where were they from?”
“My dad was Polish and my mom was Puerto Rican.”
“Wow, big mix there.”
“Yup. But I never realized I said that. It sounds so British,” I laughed.

“Got your knickers in a twist?” I repeated, putting on a British accent.
“That was awful!” Hayley replied in her own accent.
“I know! I can’t do it!”
“I win! I’m from the UK!” Alex said- his accent sounded flawless.

“Are you serious?” I asked, dropping the act.
“Yeah,” he smiled solemnly.
“Whoa, that’s cool!”
“Thanks, I guess,” he laughed.
“I’m really jealous now!”
“Don’t be, I don’t have the accent anymore.”
“But still. I’ve never been outside the US; it’s just mind boggling.”
“There we go again! Boggling!” Rian and the guys laughed. I felt my ears turn red and I hung my head in shame.

“Hey!” Jack spoke up.
“It’s just part of who Julie is, she can’t change it,” Hayley defended me, putting an arm around my shoulder.
“And if she did change it, she wouldn’t be Julie,” Zack added.
“You guys are so sweet, I can’t!” I smiled, pulling them all into a hug.

“Madison Square Garden!” The taxi driver yelled.
“Okay! How much?” I asked, reaching for my wallet.
“4.71.”
“Okay thank you sir, have a good day!” I tossed him a five-dollar bill and let him keep the change.

“I’m exhausted!” Nick from AAR exclaimed.
“Same!” Everyone replied.
“Please, all we did was eat and walk,” I rolled my eyes.
“You’re used to it though!”
“Yeah, I guess so. Well, I guess I’ll see you guys later.”
“What are you going to do?” Hayley asked as we walked around to the back lot. The breeze blew everyone’s hoods off of their heads and we all scrambled to pull them back up.
“I’m going to go inside and stay warm. And possibly finish all of the homework I neglected to do for the past week,” I laughed.
“Oh alright,” she nodded.
“Yup! If anyone wants to help me with Trigonometry, please be my guest,” I said as we stopped at my bus.

“Sorry, can’t help you there!” Rian, Josh, Zac, Nick, Mike, Chris, Zack, Hunter, and Jeremy pouted.
“It’s alright!” I laughed.
“Bye, Juliet! Thanks for showing us around,” Tyson smiled, pulling me into a hug.
“No problem!” I smiled, giving the rest of AAR hugs.
“Bye Julie, thank you!” Hayley and the guys gave me hugs.

Finally it was All Time Low’s turn.

“Ew I don’t want to hug her,” Alex said with a smile on his face.
“I don’t want to hug you either!” I laughed as I reached out to give him a hug.
“Zack and Rian I want to hug.”
“Yay!” They said in unison. I laughed and then it was Jack’s turn.

“You,” I shook my head and pushed him away playfully.
“I don’t even get a hug,” he sagged his shoulders.
“Nope! You get this!” I kissed him on the cheek and gave him a small wink.

“Bye, Julie!”
“Bye, guys!” I waved as I opened the door.

“Wow that was a nice long walk you had there.”
I shut the door and saw Frank and Mikey sitting at the kitchen table.
“Ha ha, yeah. Listen, do you think it would be okay if I went to Starbucks?”
“Who’s going with you?”
“No one… Please let me go there’s one on, like, every corner and I promise I’ll look at my phone and text you guys! I just want to do my homework in a Starbucks like I used to…”

They exchanged knowing glances and then sighed.

“Yeah, I guess you could.”
“You have to be back by 5!” I looked at my phone; it was 3:30.

“Okay I can do that!” I nodded, jogging to the back to get my book bag.
“Bye!” They waved as I closed the door behind me.

I sighed and leaned against the door for a second. I was alone at last. All of that running around and talking had made me so tired. I checked to make sure no one else was outside before walking out of the lot and around the corner. I found a Starbucks two blocks down. Unfortunately, it was packed. However, I remembered my promise not to go too far so I got on the back of the line and texted Mikey and Frank that I had gotten to my final destination.

I got my infamous Frappuccino and began looking for a place to sit. I saw a girl with light brown hair sitting at a table all by herself. I walked over and she looked up from her iPhone expectantly.

“Um, is it okay if I sit here?” I asked.
“Sure,” she nodded, scooting over away from me. Was I really that weird looking?

I set down my things and pulled out my Trigonometry homework. I sighed and took a sip of my drink. I didn’t remember anything I had learned last week. I heard someone open the front door, and by accident they brought the breeze in with them. My papers went flying right onto the girl’s side of the table.

“I’m so sorry!” I apologized furiously, trying to gather everything.
“It’s fine… You’re doing trig?” she asked, looking at one of my papers before handing it back to me.
“Attempting to,” I shrugged.
“I can help if you want? I’m Deanna, by the way,” she smiled.
“Oh you don’t have to, I don’t want to waste your time,” I smiled.
“It’s fine. I really don’t want to go home anyways,” she shrugged.
“Alright, if you want! My name’s Juliet.”
“That’s such a pretty name!”
“Thanks,” I laughed.
“Anyways, which problem are you doing?”
“Number five,” I said, passing the paper to her.
“Oh, this one’s tricky. Can I see your calculator?”
“Sure!” I passed it over to her and she typed in some numbers before nodding and passing it back to me. I looked down and saw the math she did.
“Oh that makes sense!” I face-palmed.
“Ha ha yeah, you just have to remember to go back and check it,” she laughed.
“Do you think you could help me with this one?” I asked sheepishly, pointing a problem at the bottom of the page.
“Yeah, sure! For this one, you just have to plug in the numbers,” she showed me, writing on my papers.”
“I’m sorry I’m bothering you with all of these questions.”
“Seriously, it’s fine! Stop apologizing,” she laughed.

Suddenly, my phone went off. My ringtone was “Whoa” by Paramore. I felt my ears turn red as she raised her eyebrows at me.
“Excuse me for a second,” I sat back in my seat.

“Hello?” I answered.
“Hey, how’s it going?”
“Michael?” I asked, using Mikey’s full name.
“Michael?” he snorted.
“Yeah, how are you?” I smiled, hoping he would get the hint.
“Oh I get it. And I’m fine I was just checking up to make sure you’re alive.”
“I’m actually doing my trig homework right now, can I call you back?”
“Um, sure, okay. Bye.”
“Bye,” I hung up.

“Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine… you like Paramore?” she asked.
“Yes! I love them! How about you?”
“I think they are amazing! They’re going to be here tomorrow for Musical Revenge Tour.”
“Oh yeah! Are you going?”
“Yeah, I have tickets,” she smiled.
“Oh my gosh I have tickets too!”
“We should meet up!” she gasped, getting excited.
“Yeah definitely!”
“Do you know what row you’re in?”
“I forgot,” I laughed, “You?”
“I’m in the fifth row!” she smiled.
“That close to the stage?”
“Yup!” she grinned.
“That’s awesome! I don’t think I’m that far from the stage either.” Truth is, I could probably sit wherever I wanted if I asked.

“Have you heard of All Time Low?” I asked, trying to see how much she knew about everyone.
“I didn’t know who they were until the flyer for the tour went out, but I looked them up and they are good!”
“I love them too!” ‘Literally,’ I added mentally.
“I just hope I don’t lose my voice,” she said taking a sip of her drink.
“Me too!” I nodded.

“If I lose it, then I won’t be able to go to these auditions on Monday.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what are you auditioning for?”
“I don’t mind, and I’m auditioning for this band at my school. They need a lead singer but they’re really picky about the type of person they want.”
“Oh, that sounds cool! I’m not saying I don’t want you to do well… but my friend Katherine and I are starting a band and we need a singer too. So if you want to-”
“-You would take me?” she asked, eyebrows raised.
“Well, we’d have to hear you sing a little bit, but yeah! Right now we just need to get ourselves together because we have a lot of ideas but no one to sing them,” I laughed.
“When are you having tryouts?”
“We’re not going to have a whole big tryout thing. This offer is for you only!”
“Oh my God! Can I sing something right now?”
“Sure, if you want!” I nodded.

What did I have to lose? She seemed really nice, friendly, she was smart, and she’s from my hometown! She nodded and took a deep breath before she began singing,

“Oh, well imagine, as I’m pacing the pews in a church corridor and I can’t help but to hear, no I can’t help but to hear an exchanging of words. ‘What a beautiful wedding!’ What a beautiful wedding says the bridesmaid to a waiter. ‘And yes but what a shame, what a shame the poor groom’s bride is a whore.’ I chime in with a ‘Haven’t you people ever heard of, closing the goddamn door?!’ No, it’s much better to face these kinds of things, with a sense of poise and rationality.”

I felt my jaw drop. She was amazing!

“How was that?” she asked nervously.
“Deanna, I would like you to sing that one more time, but this time sing it into my phone so I can show my friend what an amazing lead singer we have,” I smiled.
“Oh my God! Are you serious?” she grinned.
“Yes!” I squealed back.
“Oh my God, oh my God! I can’t believe it! Thank you so much!” she stood up and I stood up to give her a hug.
“I’m so happy you sat down at my table, oh my God!” she said, her eyes beginning to look glassy.
“Oh, don’t cry! Really, you were amazing!”
“Okay, okay. I won’t cry I promise,” she smiled.
“Sing it one more time, please?” I held out my BlackBerry. She nodded and sang it again, this time a little louder than before. A few people stopped to listen; a few stared at us weirdly. But in the end she sounded just as good.

“Now, Deanna. Since you are now part of this band, I have to tell you a lot of stuff.”
“Okay,” she nodded.

And so for the next half hour I told Deanna about my life, what happened, and why I was here today. When I told her that I was on tour with all of the bands she screamed. Literally everyone around us turned to stare at us.

“Sh!” I exclaimed, giving people “fuck-off” looks.
“Also, I’m going out with Jack Barakat and Hayley Williams is, like, my other best friend.”
“This cannot be happening! This is a dream and I’m going to wake up and it’s not going to be real,” she muttered to herself.
“No Deanna, this isn’t a dream and it’s not a joke. This is real!”
“This is insane!”
“I know, I know. Look if you don’t believe me, look at my text messages,” I pulled out my phone and showed her my last few texts from Mikey, Frank, Hayley, and Jack.
“Oh my God!”

We continued on talking and when I looked at my phone it was 4:55.

“Crap! I promised Mikey I’d be home by 5,” I said, smushing all my papers together and shoving them in my backpack.
“Do you need a ride home?” Deanna asked.
“You drive?”
“No, but my dad’s gunna be here any minute.”
“Oh, no it’s fine. I was supposed to be “alone” so if I drive into the lot it would be kind of obvious,” I smiled.
“Thank you so much again! I have your number and everything, so I’ll text you!”
“Alright… Deanna, please do me a favor and don’t tell anyone about me,” I looked right into her eyes.
“Okay, I won’t. I promise. But can I tell my parents?”
“I guess you could. But don’t blab on and on about me, I don’t want to get in trouble. I’m not really supposed to be doing this.”
“Okay! Bye Juliet! See you tomorrow!” She called after me.
“If you can, wake up early and drive down to the arena!” I called out as I began walking down the street.
“Okay! I’ll text you at nine!”
“Alright!”
“Bye!”
“Bye!”

From there I jogged home and made it back by 5:08.

“There you are.”
“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just a little out of breath,” I fixed my bangs and glasses.
“Gerard wanted to talk to you before, he just got back from MSI’s bus.”
“Okay I’m going,” I nodded heading for the back of the bus. I found him on the couch and Ray watching TV, his guitar in his lap. He probably played during the commercials.

“Hey Jules!” Gerard smiled, looking up from his comic book.
“Hey,” I returned the gesture.
“So, about Kat and all of your friends. Are any of them coming down to this show? We have four tickets reserved for the third row back.”
“Third row from the stage?” I asked.
“Yup,” he nodded.
“Oh my God that’s awesome!” I held out my hand for a high five.
“Ha ha, yup.”
“I’ll call and see if they can come over, give me one second. Oh and good news!”
“What?”
“What?” Ray asked, joining the conversation.

“I found a lead singer!”
“That’s great!”
“When? Where?”
“Like 10 minutes ago in Starbucks. I asked her if I could sit at her table because there was no empty space, she helped me with my trig homework, and then my phone went off and she heard my ring tone and it was Paramore and then she told me that she was a fan and she was going to the concert and then she told me she didn’t want to lose her voice because then she wasn’t going to be able to audition for this band on Monday. So after she said that I told her that Kat and me were looking for a lead singer and we would gladly take her if she didn’t make it with the other band and she asked to audition right then and there and she did and she sang Panic! At The Disco and it was amazing! And I had her sing it again and it’s on my phone and I recorded it and sent it to Kat who got it and she’s really excited! And then I told her all about my life and she thinks she’s dreaming and I gave her my number and she lives in Manhattan like I used to and she seems like a really nice person so I kind of invited her over to our bus at nine o’clock in the morning, is that alright?”
“What’s her name?”
“Deanna.”
“Yeah I guess she could come over…” Gerard shrugged. I was about to do a victory dance but something on Gerard and Ray’s face stopped me.
“What?” I pouted.
“How do you know for sure that she won’t take your number and give it out to everyone and call her friends and post it on FaceBook and all that stuff?”
“She doesn’t seem like that type of girl. When I found her she was sitting at a table all by herself and she was really friendly and nice and I just have a good feeling about this, guys.”
“Alright. We’ll see how this goes… but please, be a little more careful next time?”
“I promise I will!” I brought a fist up over my heart and thumped it.

We all broke out into laughter and I ran to the front to tell Mikey and Frank and then I ran outside to tell everyone else. Jack gave me a victory kiss and Hayley gave me a big hug.

“You guys better be careful though, she sounded like she was a big fan,” I pointed to all of Paramore.
“Great!” They laughed.
“This is so exciting!” I squealed.
“Can we hear her sing?” Alex asked. I nodded and pulled out my phone.

Everyone gathered around and listened to her voice.

“She is amazing!” Hayley grinned.
“Yeah she is good,” Rian nodded.
“Almost as good as Alex, Tyson, and Hayley.”
“Let’s not get too crazy,” Tyson grinned.

“Did anyone eat dinner yet?”
“Nope.”
“I’m not hungry, I just had Starbucks,” I grinned.
“You didn’t take us?”
“I knew something tasted different,” I heard Jack mutter to himself. I burst out laughing at this- he was talking about our victory kiss.

“What?”
“What’s so funny?”
“What did I say?” Hayley asked.
“Nothing. I’m hearing things,” I shook my head.

“Alright, so can we go out for dinner?” Alex asked.
“Julie take us somewhere for dinner, please?” Josh asked.
“Yeah! Take us somewhere cool!”
“Somewhere where we can get our party on!”
“Who do you people think I am? A concierge?”
“Basically.”
“Pretty much.”
“Yup.”

I rolled my eyes dramatically and sighed,
“I guess I could take you somewhere.”
“Yes!” I heard someone give each other high fives.
“I am giving you two choices: barbeque or seafood?”
“Barbeque!” Hayley and the rest of Paramore yelled.
“Seafood!” All Time Low yelled. Figures, the Baltimoreans want seafood. Everyone turned to stare at AAR. They were the last ones left.
“I personally like barbeque,” Tyson shrugged.
“I like seafood, I could go for that,” Chris shrugged.
“Seafood,” Mike nodded.
“Barbeque,” Nick said.
“Well now it’s even! Ugh… I’m in the mood for barbeque, sorry guys, majority rules,” I sighed.

“Also, about that whole getting the party on? Yeah that’s not happening tonight,” I shook my head.
“Boo,” I heard Alex, Tyson, Jack, Nick, Hunter, Jeremy, and Mike say.
“Oh shut it! The food is good. Plus there will probably be a huge party tomorrow night after the show.”
“She has a point.”
“Alright let’s go!”
“Are we taking a cab again?”
“Yup, we’re going back to Time Square!” I smiled.
“Woohoo!”

We I hailed a cab and got us back to the Square, the sky was almost completely dark, and the lights shone fiercely off of the shiny buildings surrounding us.

“Straight this way!” I called over the bustle, walking straight into BBQ’s.

The last time I had been here was the day I broke up with Tim. I pushed those thoughts away from my mind and told the waitress, who greeted me like an old friend, that we needed a big table in the back. She obliged and got us one right away.

“I’m gunna go to the bathroom, be right back,” I excused myself from the table.
“Do you want us to get you a drink or something?” Hayley asked.
“Oh yeah, sure! Get me a virgin piña colada? And for an appetizer order two large tempuras.”
“Okay will do!”

I walked off down the stairs and stepped into the tiny one stall room. I stopped to look in the mirror before I left, I was pretty sure nothing was bothering me, but my stomach felt weird. Maybe it was all of the caffeine from the Frappuccino.

‘Or maybe it’s because you’re going to fall apart any second,’ the voice in the back of my head snapped.
‘I’m over Tim. I have Jack and everyone else out there who loves me for who I am.’
‘Did you ever think that Tim may still like you? Or maybe Alex or Tyson?’
‘I have Jack,’
“I don’t need anyone else!” I said the last part out loud to myself. I splashed some cold water on my face and opened the door. I accidentally tackled the person waiting in line to the left of the door.

“You practicing your football skills too?”
“Oh! I’m sorry, Alex. Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine… Are you okay?” He did a double take at my face and held me by my shoulders. He studied my eyes with his own; they saw what I had seen in the mirror- a shiny shell with tiny cracks spreading across the surface. I was about to crumble.
“I’m fine,” I tried to sound convincing.
“You’re sure?”
“…No.”

I couldn’t lie to Alex. I thought back to the times when I thought of him as a big brother figure and not my boyfriend’s best friend who I got into banters with every five seconds.

“What’s wrong?”
“The last time I came here… It was the day I caught Tim cheating on me with that fucking blonde cheerleader.”
“Oh… I see. Well then, why didn’t you take us to that other restaurant if you knew?”
“I like my barbeque,” I smiled weakly.
“Look, if you’re not going to enjoy yourself because of some douche bag, we’ll high tale it out of here. We don’t want you to be upset,” he pulled me into a hug and I returned it.
“I like this Alex better,” I muttered into his shoulder. He pulled away to look at me.

“This Alex?”
“Mhm. This is the Alex I met after the concert in New Jersey. This is the Alex I heard when I listened to your music for the first time… Sure, being crazy and kidding around is fun most of the time, but other times, it’s good to be this Alex.”
“Sometimes, I wish I could be this Alex all the time too,” he nodded.
“…Well, I better get back. Thanks for checking up on me though,” I smiled.
“Any time, Jules. Any time,” he grinned before shutting the door.

I walked back to the table and saw Jack and everyone else turn to smile at me as I walked through the door. The appetizers and drinks had just been served.

“Hey, here she is,” Jack smiled.
“We missed you!”
“Was there a long line or something?”
“There’s only one stall that everyone has to use,” I explained.
“Oh those are the worst!” Hayley sympathized.
“Yeah,” I chuckled.

“This tempura shit is amazing!” Chris exclaimed.
“Your welcome,” I laughed.
“I could just eat this all day!”
“That’s good to know. It’s even better when you dip it,” I said pouring some sauce into a dish.
“There is a God,” I heard someone mutter down the table as we ate away.

After eating and joking with everyone, I began to feel better. I noticed the crude comments had stopped flying back and forth between Jack and Alex, who seemed to have both calmed down significantly.

After an hour and a half we had all finished eating our main course and dessert, and were completely full to the brim with food.

“There better not be a lot of traffic,” Hayley said, clutching her stomach as we walked down the block.

Jack let out a huge burp and soon after all of the guys followed- even Hayley did a small one.

“C’mon Julie, your turn!”
“Yeah!” Everyone encouraged me.
“I’m sorry, I can’t,” I shook my head.
“That’s bullshit!”
“No I physically can’t. I haven’t burped since I was a baby.”
“She’s just trying to mess with us,” Jeremy said.
“Mhm, now go ahead. Burp.”
“I can try and try all I want but it just won’t happen,” I sighed.
“Go ahead. Try,” Mike said, amusement in his eyes.
“Alright, I will!” I nodded. As we walked, I tried to push the air out of my stomach. I failed epically.

“Maybe I’m doing it wrong or something, I don’t know,” I gave up as we reached the corner. I stepped forward to hail a cab but someone pulled me back.
“Can we do it?” Hayley asked.
“This should be interesting,” I nodded.
“No I wanna do it!” Jack and Alex exclaimed.
“How about we all just do it at the same time?” Zack suggested.
“Okay. One, two, three!” All of the opening acts held out their hands for a cab and only one paused to stop before seeing all of them and driving away.

“I don’t get it, you can’t miss us!” Alex complained.
“That’s exactly why they don’t want you guys. You look like a bunch of kids trying to mess around,” I said.
“Look this is how you do it. You have to mean business, but you have to look like a nice customer. Watch me, ready?” I fixed my glasses, bangs, and jacket and stuck out my arm.

Three cabs stopped and drove over. I walked over to the one in the middle, since it was the biggest, and opened the door.

“Everyone in!” I shouted to them.
“It’s a little squished!” I heard Hayley’s muffled voice.
“If three of us sit on someone’s lap we’ll be okay,” I called back. Hayley climbed onto Josh’s lap, Rian sat on Zack’s lap, and I was left to sit on Jack’s.

“Madison Square Garden, please?” I told the driver.
“Okay,” he nodded before shutting the glass between our compartments.
“Don’t try anything,” Zack warned Rian.
“Trust me, I’m not going to move, I’m stuffed,” he assured him.

I leaned back onto Jack’s chest and smiled. He wrapped his arms around my stomach and pulled me closer, he was so comfy!

There was only a little bit of rush hour traffic on our way back; we were able to make it home in 20 minutes.

“Today was great!” Hayley grinned.
“Agreed,” everyone replied.
“I’m exhausted.”
“I have to get up at 8 in the morning tomorrow! Nooo,” I whined.
“Why?”
“You should be getting all the sleep you can for the concert.”
“I’m meeting up with Deanna and possibly Kat and my other friends from Jersey tomorrow,” I explained.
“Oh, alright,” Hayley nodded.
“That sucks.”
“Yeah, I know. But it’s for my friends and for my band, so it’s worth it. Well, I’ll see you guys tomorrow night!” I gave everyone hugs before turning to kiss Jack on the lips.

“Night,” I smiled.
“Night,” he grinned back.

“See you tomorrow,” I waved.
“Bye Julie!”
“Bye Jules!”
“Thanks for everything!” Alex called after me.
“Bye, guys! You’re welcome!”

I opened the door and said my “Good Nights” to everyone before changing and collapsing on my bunk.

“Can someone wake me up at 8 o’clock?” I called out in a sleepy daze.
“Sure!”
“Thank you,” I replied before passing out.

*

Kat’s POV

“Mom can I go, please?”
“No.”
“Mom, please let me go! Billie and Juliana are going too!”
“Chris has an audition upstate- no.”
“Why does everything always have to be about Chris or Austin? Is it because I’m the middle child?”
“Katherine you take that back right now! You know your father and I love you just as much as your brothers.”
“Well, you’re doing a bad job of showing it…” I muttered.
“What was that?” She looked at me sharply.
“Nothing… And I don’t need a ride home, Juliet has lots of room on her bus!”
“I’m not comfortable with the idea of you sleeping on a bus with a bunch of grown men who decided that getting wasted and high every night is a good idea.”
“Mom! They do not do that! And I won’t be the only girl! There’s Julie and Juliana and Hayley and-and Deanna!”
“Who’s Deanna?”

I hesitated. If my mom found out that I had formed a band with Julie and Deanna she would flip. The fact that Deanna was a total stranger up until the last 12 hours wouldn’t help either… It had to be done at some point though, didn’t it?

“Mom, there’s no easy way of saying this but… I’m in a band.”
“Excuse me?”
“Julie and I are in a band, and Deanna is our lead singer.”
“Oh really? Where’s Deanna from?”
“Manhattan, Julie knows her.” I saw my mom furrow her eyebrows in thought. She started to say something, but stopped. She turned to the sink, where she had been washing her hands, and stared out the window.
“Well… there’s only one thing I have to say to you-” I held my breath and waited for the worst.

“-Just because you’re in a band doesn’t mean you’re not going to college.” I felt my stomach drop.
“So wait, you’re not angry?”
“No.”
“You’re not going to condemn me to the fiery pits of hell?”
“No,” she laughed.
“So it’s okay if I go so that I can hang out with them and Zack?”
“Oh, Zack’s going to be there too?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I guess you could stay the night at Juliet’s… Just call and make sure it’s okay. And look out for Billie, he tends to get a little out of control sometimes.”
“Thank you so much!” I ran over and gave her a big hug.
“Okay, okay, you’re welcome. But if anything happens, I’m not the one who’s going to be explaining everything to your father.”
“I promise everything will be fine!”
“Alright, go pack your bag. Oh! And I want to talk to Julie’s mom before you go.”
“Um… okay,” I trailed off.

I looked at the clock; it was 9:30. Julie said she would be up by 9 so I guess I was free to call away.

After the third ring, the line came to life.

“Hello?” A deep voice answered. That was definitely not Julie.
“Um, is Juliet there?”
“She’s playing guitar right now. I’m holding her phone for her.”
“Oh, um, can you tell her that Kat called?”
“Who?”
“Kat. Her friend Kat called,” I repeated myself with an eye roll.
“Jimmy! Get off my phone!” I heard Juliet’s voice in the background. I felt my jaw drop, I was on the phone with The Rev!
“Hello?” I heard Julie fumble with the phone.
“Hey! I know you’re kind of busy right now, but I just wanted to let you know that my mom said I could go!”
“Awesome! Deanna got here a few minutes ago and we’ve been messing around for a few minutes. Zack can’t wait for you to get here!” The smile was evident in her voice. I felt a blush creep to my face, just thinking about him gave me butterflies. I shook my head and snapped back to reality.
“I can’t wait either! But listen up, my mom wants to talk to Lind- I mean your mo- um,” I stuttered unsure of what to say.
“You can call her my mom it’s fine,” I heard her respond. Her voice sounded light, but I knew how hard it must be for her to just bounce back and forth between titles.

“Oh alright. Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine,” she laughed solemnly.
“Is it okay if my mom talks to her?”
“Yeah, sure. One second.”
“Where’re you going?” I heard Jack call to her from the background.
“I’m getting Lindsey!” She responded. I heard the shuffle of feet as she moved her way through the crowd of people.

“Lindsey, Kat’s mom wants to talk to you.”
“To me?”
“Yeah, it’s a mom thing.”
“Oh! Alright,” I heard the surprise in her voice. I guess Bandit wasn’t old enough to go on play-dates yet.

I rushed over to the dining room and held the phone up to my mom’s ear.

“Her name is Lindsey!” I whisper-yelled.
“Thank you,” she mouthed back.

“Hello? Hi, Lindsey! … I’m good, you? … That’s great. Listen, Kat would love to come over but her brother has an audition to go to upstate and we’re going to spend the night up there; so we were wondering if she could possibly stay the night? … You’re sure it’s not a problem?”

“Yes!” I did a victory jump. I saw my mom roll her eyes at me as she listened.

“We can come and pick her up the next day around noon,” she continued.
“Alright! Thanks so much for having her stay over… It’s been a dream of hers for some time now… Ha ha okay. See you then. Bu-bye,” she snapped my phone shut.

“I want you to text me when you’re over there, okay? Finish packing so we can get you out of here before 10. I looked at the clock; it was 9:45!
“Okay!” I yelled as I rushed up the steps. Today was going to be so much fun!

*

“Kat!” I heard my name being called. I tried to see who was calling me but there wereway too many people outside to see.

“Kat!” I turned again and saw Julie standing with a girl who had long light brown hair.
“Julie!” I ran forward to give her a hug. I saw my mom and Chris give us a final wave before pulling away.

“Kat, this is Deanna, Deanna, this is Kat!”
“Hi! Nice to meet you for real!” I shook her hand.
“Ha ha, same to you!”
“So, ready to cut all of these crazy fans?” Julie asked.
“Hell yeah!” I grinned.
“We have to go the long way, sorry,” she apologized as she took the lead.

We walked down the block and around the corner, there were fans EVERYWHERE it was truly insane. I had no idea how we were going to get by without making everyone curious. We turned the corner again, and there were still a lot of people, but not as many.

“Okay, put these on,” she handed Deanna and me two passes. We clipped them onto the bottom of our shirts.
“Sometimes these fans know exactly where to wait to see everyone so as long as I can pass for a worker,” she pulled out a lanyard with a lot official tags and keys, “We’ll be good.”

She stopped for a second to pull out a walky-talky and earpiece from her hoodie pocket and strapped them on. She really did look like a tour employee.

“Is all of this really necessary?” Deanna asked.
“No, not really- but it’s fun,” Julie laughed. “If anyone notices us, I need you guys to look like excited fans, but talk about how you bought the passes online and how excited you are that you got a deal over the computer. We can’t let people know that we know the bands. Follow my lead, please.”

“Okay!” we nodded, feeling giddy with the idea of sneaking in in front of a few fans.

“Alright here we go… Josh, Andy, one of you there?” She talked into the little microphone clipped to her shirt. “…Hey, be ready to open the door in like five seconds, okay? Thanks so much, bye,” she smiled before she dropped her hand and began power walking.

“You walk really fast!” I laughed as I jogged to keep up.
“It’s a New Yorker thing,” Deanna laughed, matching Julie’s stride perfectly. I stuck out my tongue and kept trudging along. Suddenly she stopped short and did a weird triple knock on the door. I saw a few girls looking at us suspiciously and I began to talk to Deanna about the imaginary online deal we got on our tickets.

“You guys are so lucky!” One of them said to us as they passed.

Two seconds passed and then swoosh the door glided open and a guy dressed in black jeans and v-neck appeared at the door.

“Hey guys! C’mon in!”
“Thanks, Andy!” Julie said as she took off the headset and handed it to him.
“No problem, anytime,” he nodded.
“Okay guys, to the lot!” She struck a disco pose before walking down a side hallway.

“You’re too funny, Jules,” I laughed.
“I know, right?” she laughed back.
“So conceded, Julie,” Deanna shook her head in fake disapproval.
“I’ve been hanging out with Jack too much, sorry,” she shrugged.

“You know this place really well!” I said as we walked out into the parking lot. A strong wind swirled by and Julie’s words were lost in the wind. I just nodded and kept going, I could always ask her later.

“Kat!” I heard my name being called from somewhere in the distance. I turned my head and felt a smile break out on my face. Zack was sticking his head out of a bus window to say hello to me.

“Hi!” I waved back.

“Sorry the bus is parked so far away,” Julie apologized, picking up her pace.

We all rushed onto the bus, which turned out to be MCR’s, and were instantly greeted by everyone. Every band that was on tour was on this bus. How were we all fitting?! I could have sworn the bus looked different from the last time I slept over.

“Hey Kat!” A few people greeted me. I waved back in reply.
“Oh! I remember you now! Sorry about the whole phone thing,” the Rev apologized with a grin.
“I-it’s fine!” I returned the smile.

We got to the back of the bus where All Time Low, Paramore, and the All-American Rejects were hanging out.
“HEY KAT!” Everyone yelled.
“Hi guys!” I smiled enthusiastically.

Julie and Deanna walked back over to everyone and Zack walked over to me. The guys went back to their video game- Deanna had taken Zack’s place.

“I missed you,” Zack said before he put a hand under my chin and delicately brought my lips up to his. I smiled and felt a small blush break out on my cheeks.
“I missed you too.”
“I’m happy you made it.”
“Me too!” I nodded.
“I told my mom about the whole band thing.”
“What did she say?” he asked, his brow furrowing in worry. He knew how my parents were sometimes.
“She was totally fine with it! She just told me that I still had to go to college,” I laughed.
“Oh, that’s alright,” he laughed along.

“Kaaaaaaaaaaaat!”
“What Julieeeeeee?” I called back.
“Stop hiding behind your boyfriend and come over here pleaseeeeeeeeee!”
“Okayyyyyyyyyy!” I laughed and stepped around Zack, who ended up following me anyways. I didn’t mind; I enjoyed his company.

“What’s up?”
“Do you know when Billie and Juliana are coming over?”
“Oh, those guys are just waking up now,” I snorted.
“It’s 12 o’clock already!” She sighed exasperatingly.
“Well think about it. We wake up around 10/11 o’clock ourselves.”
“Yeah we woke up about an hour ago,” Zack grinned.
“I’ve been up since 8,” she pinched the bridge of her nose tiredly.
“Sorry,” Deanna apologized, looking truly sincere.
“No its fine. You still have to get up and go to school every day, I used to be the same way.”
“I still go to school and I’m on a rock star schedule,” I laughed.
“Well, Kat’s not your average student, don’t go by her,” Julie laughed.
“Okay,” Deanna laughed along.

“So, Deanna,” I turned the conversation back over to her, “this may sound creepy, but, please tell me more about yourself.”
“It’s not creepy, don’t worry,” she laughed. As Dee and I were talking, Zack took back his controller and went back to playing video games. Hayley came over and started talking to Julie, who did not look entirely there. It looked like something was bothering her but I couldn’t place it. I’d have to ask her later.

“Well, I’m very happy to have you as part of our band!” I smiled when she finished her story.
“Me too! I was, like, losing sleep over that audition I was going to do. But now that I have awesome people who actually appreciate me, I don’t have to worry!”
“We’re like one big happy-”
“-JACK! YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH!” Alex chucked his controller to the side and began wrestling with him. Rian and Josh joined in too.
“-Well, almost always happy family,” I finished.
“You guys are really funny!” Deanna laughed.
“This is normal behavior,” I rolled my eyes.
“I can only imagine.”
“Wait until the party after this show, they’re going to be off the walls,” I sighed in exhaustion just thinking about it.

“We should all take naps,” I heard someone suggest.
“I’m too hyper for that,” Jack replied as he tackled Alex to the ground.
“You’re going to waste all of your energy,” Julie spoke up.
“This is true,” he paused to nod in agreement. That was all the time the other guys needed to tackle Jack to the ground.

“Whatever… Anyone want to come to the super market with me?” Julie asked, standing up.
“Why are we going to the super market?”
“To get things for the party,” she said in a matter-of-fact voice.
“Oh! I’ll go!”
“Me too!” I said, standing up from my chair.
“Are we gunna get beer?”
“I’ll ask the Rev about the beer, okay?” she reassured everyone before motioning for all of us who wanted to go to follow her.

Some people in the front already had beers in their hand, pre-gaming.

“Hey,” Julie approached the Rev who was sitting in a group with Matt, Steve, Johnny, and Frank.
“What’s crackin’, Jules? How’re you doing, ladies? –And Tyson, Nick, and Zack,” he added hastily as the three boys gave him we’re-not-girls looks.

“I was chosen to ask you the golden question.”
“You want to know if I’ll get you guys booze for later,” he read her mind. I saw all of the adults in the group turn to give us did-she-really-just-ask-that looks.

The Rev saw this and decided to play it safe,
“I’m not going to answer that.”
“Ugh, fine. Listen, we’re going to the super market to buy food and stuff for us, okay?”
“Alright, but I don’t think you have to. They will probably have enough,” Frank shrugged.
“Jack and the rest of the boys on this tour eat like they have tapeworms,” Julie looked over at Zack, Nick, and Tyson, who immediately began whistling and looking around the room innocently.
“Ha ha! Okay, do you have enough money?” Frank reached for his wallet.
“Um, I don’t know, let me check. I got a little bit of money from everyone,” she explained as she pulled out her wallet and began counting the various bills she had collected.
“I have 35,” she finished.
“Eh, take five more to make it forty,” Frank pulled out a five and gave it to her and she added it to her pile.
“Thanks, Frank! See you guys in a few,” she waved.
“Bye!”
“Bye!” Everyone waved us off.

“Okay. We’re going to need to split up to do this efficiently,” Julie said, zipping up her jacket and pulling her hood up over her head. We all followed likewise; it was still really cold in the city. Hayley and Tyson pulled out their shades and put them on. His eyes were like icicles, it was a shame he put the glasses on.

I felt Zack lace his fingers through mine. I looked up and smiled at him and he returned the expression.

“Deanna and Hayley, you guys are going to get the chips and dip. Tyson and Nick, you are going to get the plates- tiny ones, please- cups, and napkins. Kat and Zack, you guys are going to get the ice and drinks. I’m going to get the Tylenol and Tums and Pepto-Bismol, etcetera. Everybody got it? If you get lost just call me on my cell,” she finished.
“Sounds good to me!” I nodded. Julie was such a good organizer of business!

We got out of the lot unnoticed and made it down the busy streets to Food Town. It was humongous!

“Remember what you’re getting?” Julie asked us as we entered in through the automatic doors.
“Yup!”
“Yes ma’am!”
“We got this!”
“Alright. See you guys by the registers in a few!” she took off down the long isle to the left and we all split up, searching for our assigned items.

“Do you know what Julie likes?” Zack asked as we walked down the big drink isle.
“She loves Stewart’s Root Beer and Dr. Pepper. We should get Pepsi and Ginger Ale too.”
“Alright,” Zack nodded, grabbing one of each thing as I spoke.
“Um, the sign says all the soda’s are on sale four for five, so maybe get two of each?”
“We’re gunna need a cart then,” Zack said.
“I’ll go get one! Be right back,” I walked off down the isle and looked for the carts. I found some all the way back by the entrance we came in through and ran back to the isle where Zack was standing talking to Tyson and Nick, who had already gotten all of their things.
“Here ya’ go!” I smiled, pushing the cart next to Zack.
“Thanks,” he smiled.

“So, Kat. You play lead?” Nick asked me.
“Yeah! I’m sorry I forgot, but what do you play?”
“I play lead too,” he laughed.
“Oh! Okay! Is it hard?”
“Sometimes,” he shrugged, “it depends on how much time I put into things and what song it is and how complicated Tyson gets.” Tyson gave him a “Really?” look and we all burst out laughing.
“We just have to get ice,” Zack said once he finished putting all of the bottles in the cart.
“Alright! Let’s go!” I took the lead and pushed the cart. The guys fell into rank next to me. Zack on my right and Tyson and Nick on my left.

“Here it is!” I pulled over the cart in the frozen food isle and opened up the big refrigerator. I pulled out two big bags of ice and placed them in the cart.
“That was impressive,” Tyson laughed.
“What?”
“If that were me, I’d probably have to put them down one at a time.”
“Oh, I’m just strong. I don’t know if me being a swimmer has anything to do with that,” I laughed.
“Maybe,” they all shrugged.
“Well, let’s go meet up with Julie!” I pushed the cart down to the center where we found Deanna and Hayley just walking down to the center too. Julie was waiting for us, her hands full of little bottles of medicine and two containers of orange juice.

“They were on sale,” she explained as she set down the orange juice on the cashier’s conveyor belt.

The total came out to $37.46. We paid and left, all of us laden with bags. We got back to the bus to find it half empty.

“Where is everyone?” Deanna asked.
“They went over to the other bus,” the Rev explained. He was looking in the fridge for something to drink.
“ ‘Scuse us while we fill this up,” Julie said as she began filling the fridge with all of our drinks.
“That’ll give you diabetes,” he nodded. Frank, Mikey, Steve, and Bob all laughed then went back to their conversation.

“Oh, and to answer your question from before. It will all be out in coolers, so just do whatever you guys want. There’s no bartender or anything,” he shrugged.
“Thanks, Rev!” she smiled.
“Anytime, anytime,” he nodded before stealing a Stewart’s out of one of the bags.
“I love Stewart’s!” Julie exclaimed, putting them in the fridge immediately.
“So we’ve noticed,” I laughed.
“You know me too well! I got this you guys, thanks for coming with me! You can go back to the back,” she waved us off. We nodded and headed back to find that the peace had been somewhat restored between the guys. Now they were playing and bumping into each other on purpose.

The rest of the day was spent in this fashion until Billie and Juliana arrived at 6:30. They had hit a lot of traffic coming in and they had a hard time finding a spot. The show began at 8:30 so all of the opening bands had to leave around 7 to get ready and play.

“Love you,” I heard Julie say softly to Jack before they leaned in for a good-bye/good luck kiss. It looked so sincere that I had to look away, I felt like I was intruding on their privacy.

I glanced over at Zack, who was walking towards me, a bottle of water in hand. We were a completely different couple than Jack and Julie; in a way I was glad… and in a way I wasn’t. Jack and Julie seemed to be so perfect for each other, and Zack and I still hadn’t said half the things they do to each other, the “L” word being one of them. I shook it off and smiled as he got closer.

“Gotta stay hydrated!” he smiled as he stopped walking.
“Good luck,” I smiled, pulling him into a hug.
“Thanks,” he leaned down to give me a kiss too.
“You’ll be great out there!”
“I’ll look for you,” he nodded.
“Ha ha, I’ll make sure to cheer extra loud!”
“Kat,” he took my hands in his.
“Yes?” I asked, unsure of his sudden change of tone.
“Love you,” he grinned, before pulling me into another strong hug.
“I-I love you too!” I held on tight, trying to cherish this moment. It was like he read my mind! Zack just told me he loved me! I felt my head begin to spin with happiness.
“See you later,” he waved, giving me a small wink before catching up with his band mates.

“Oh my God!” I squealed.
“What?” Julie, Juliana, and Deanna rushed over to me.
“Zack just told me he loved me!”
“Oh my God!”
“That’s so sweet!”
“You guys are so cute!”
“Oh my God! What happened?” Billie asked, imitating us in a girly voice as he joined the conversation.

“Nothing,” Julie and I rolled our eyes knowingly.
“Dee, we won’t be able to stand next to you at the concert,” I pouted.
“I know, but that’s alright. Hopefully, I’ll be able to squeeze my way over by the time the concert starts.”
“That’s a good idea!” Julie nodded.
“Plus, can’t we kind of hang out by the merch booths for a little bit before the show?”
“Yeah!” she nodded.
“Alright! Let’s go!”

Together we all walked into the arena, the noise was unbelievable! We got to our spots right before the opening acts came out, and we cheered like crazy for each band. By the time the concert was over, we were all horse from singing and shouting.

“Let’s get back to everyone!” Julie took the lead down the arena and led us to a side door, which lead to the spot where all of the bands were going out to meet their fans. I saw Brad, Josh, and Andy waiting by the doorway with a bunch of security guards. Each band was going out one at a time so that there wasn’t a stampede of people trying to get to everyone at once.

“You know what? Maybe we should go back to the lot to wait for everyone to shower and stuff?” Julie suggested.
“Sounds good to me, my feet are killing me!” Juliana said. We all nodded in agreement and went back to set up for the big after party.

After 20 minutes, everyone was back and ready to party. It didn’t take long until all of the buses were bursting with music and people.

“This is awesome!” I yelled to Zack, who was dancing with me to almost every song. He took a sip of his beer and nodded. I glanced around the bus; everything seemed to be going great!

As I scoped the room I saw Hayley was laughing and joking with Tyson and Jeremy, the Rev was dancing and drinking with Mikey, Matt, and a few other people, Alex and Juliet were kissing, and Rian was hanging out with- wait a second. Something’s not right.