“Passes?”
The larger one asked. Liddy reached into her small handbag and held out two ID badges, and after a quick look, the guard ushered us toward backstage.
I’d never been backstage at a concert before, and the suspense was getting to me. My hands were starting to sweat, and I could feel myself getting a little dizzy when I looked around. But, Liddy kept pulling me along on this ride, and I just followed.
Walking through busy corridors and hallways, even a staircase or two, Liddy kept flashing her badges and would be met with people pointing one direction or another. Before long we had found the holy-grail, the coveted green room where the band was enjoying some much-needed refreshment.
2.
It wasn’t a terribly large room, but it was large enough for the band and a few other girls to wander around. Along the far side sat a table, covered in drinks and food. A couple of couches and chairs occupied the center of the room where the band sat, as well as most of their female company. The longest wall had a large balcony stretching out towards the stadium field. A few roadies, drinks in hand, were chatting with a couple of the other girls on the balcony.
Liddy shot from my grasp as soon as she made contact. This was her element; she always was a bit of an attention hog. I never minded at all. I wasn’t interested in being stared at by a bunch of gawkers, but she was a professional.
“Lela, get over here!”
She waved at me, attempting to bring me in closer but I just waved her off and made for the table in the back. All that dancing had me feeling relaxed but too drained. I could already tell that my muscles would be regretting my workout from tonight.
I put together a small plate of snacks, as well as some water, and sauntered off to the balcony. It was quite a nice night actually; the cool air off the water staunched the summer heat.
As I stood, leaning against the railing, it became a bit lonely as the couples filtered back inside, leaving me to my thoughts.
I couldn’t help but feel like I was wasting the gift from my friend. She probably worked hard to get these passes, and here I was just leaning against a railing eating meager snack foods. I peeked on Liddy; she was laughing and chatting with the lead singer.
I had to admit, I did think Aiden was gorgeous. His long blond hair was tied back behind his head, and it showed off his sharp, and high, cheek bones. Being a rock singer, he definitely took care of himself, and while he was quite skinny, it looked like he still enjoyed his time at the gym.
He was out of my league; he was only really paying attention to the fairer skinned girls at the party, so I could tell right away that his eye wouldn’t stray too far my direction.
Still, as imaginative as I was, I tried my best to tamp down any thoughts of Aiden coming my way. Besides, Liddy was more interested anyway, it would probably be best that she is given the opportunity of a lifetime.
“Excuse me, is this balcony taken?”
The voice sounded familiar, I turned my neck and saw him standing there, long hair and all.
“Err… um … no. It’s open to everyone,” I squeaked out.
I turned back to my empty plate of snacks, but now I couldn’t remember what I had just been thinking about.
“Lovely night,” he said.
I nodded, trying to hide my excitement.
“You’re missing out on the party, were you planning on staying out here all night?”
I nodded again.
“You certainly are a woman of few words,” he laughed.
I smiled and giggled to myself a bit.
“Well, that’s quite a nice smile.”
I was happy for the compliment, as much as he was happy to have given it.
“Since this doesn’t seem like your kind of party, I doubt you came here alone, who dragged you here?”
I turned and pointed at my friend Liddy, who was chatting up their bassist at this point. I was quite surprised that none of the other girls were trampling the balcony, hoping for another minute or two with Aiden.
“She seems nice. Bit of a talker, though.”
I giggled again. He was right. She had quite a mouth on her.
“Why didn’t anyone follow you out,” I asked meekly.
Aiden let out a surprised expression, as though he’d just seen lead turn to gold.
“So you can speak!”
He laughed, almost as much as I did.
“To answer that question, how many people in that room do you think would follow me out here right now?”
I turned and counted, there must’ve been about fifteen girls in there ready to swoon all night.
“Looks like fifteen?”
“Sounds about right; how many of them look available enough to chat on this balcony.”
I looked again, and after examining, I saw that most of them were already talking to other band members or strong looking roadies. Except maybe one or two that just sat chatting with each other about who knows what.
“Maybe two of them would come out?” I asked.
“This happens after nearly every concert. I’m not really interested in groupies, they get boring. Sex is great and all, but it feels like I’m exploiting my fans. I just get a dirty feeling after it’s all over, so I just don’t sleep with them. I respect my fans too much to exploit them as bad as my record label does.”
“So you just told them all you weren’t interested, and they backed off? That doesn’t sound like Liddy at all.”
“Ah, Liddy is your friends name,” he said. “She was the hardest pressed to get close to me tonight. She told me she knew the manager, which was strike one right there. Anyone that knows our manager knows what a total creep he is. He’d have to sleep with all the girls in that room before he’d even think of giving any of them a backstage pass.”
That explained quite a lot in my mind, Liddy didn’t mind using herself to get what she wanted, and I suppose this was no different.
“So how did you get yours,” he asked.
“Liddy had two, so she gave me one. We’ve been best friends since 2nd grade, so she didn’t even have a second thought about whom to give it to.”
“She got two from that scumbag manager? She must’ve done some pretty crazy things to get a second one.”
I giggled, but I also felt a little sad about how badly she must’ve wanted to get a second pass, and here I was wasting it on this balcony. But, I couldn’t help but wonder what she did to get it.
“Okay, I need to change the subject. Thinking about Greg sleeping with anyone is killing my brain.”
I giggled.
“What do you do when you’re not performing,” I asked.
“Oh, that,” he said, flashing me a big smile, “I like a lot of things. But, the thing I like to do most is photography. It’s really convenient for me since I can take my camera with me anywhere, and I get to visit some places that most people only dream of.”
He looked really excited.
“I suppose you probably knew that from the fan club website, though.”
I shook my head no.
“Back to not talking again, eh?”
“Sorry, I don’t really talk to a lot of new people, let alone rock stars. You’re a bit out of my league.”
He laughed at the thought.
“You think you feel overwhelmed by me? I’m just amazed that 20,000 people want to show up and listen to me play, that’s overwhelming. I’m not out of your league. If anything, I’m in just the right place.”
“No way, I’m sure you’ve been hit by the celebrity bug. Haven’t you met some other people that you admire and felt awestruck? Don’t say it never happened.”
He bellowed a laugh. But, his moment of silence that followed let me know that I was right.
“I’ve been bitten by the bug, alright. You don’t grow up in the middle of nowhere expecting to meet your inspiration. I must admit that I melted a bit when I met Robert Plant and James Hetfield.”
I gasped at the name dropping; those were a cou
ple of my celebrity crushes as well, although they were still a bit too old for me to consider anything dirty.
“So, if you were to go out for a walk with them now, would they still be out of your league? You’re probably just as famous.”
He thought about it for a second before he answered.
“I guess fans spending time with their idols will always be overwhelming, but you shouldn’t feel that way with me. Sure, I might get paid doing what I love, but I’m nothing too special. You’d be able to tell that if you spent a day with me.”
A sudden flash of interest flashed into my head, and I didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to prove someone wrong.
“Well then prove it; I want to see a humble rock star walking around town and being normal. Let’s take a walk around the town and you can photograph all the sights, and I’ll even show you some you won’t see in a travel book. I’ll even be your model for the day,” I said with a sudden surge of boldness and my cutest smile.
I wondered why I said it; it seemed so out of character. Here I was, asking a rockstar out of on date in a rather odd way. I hardly recognized myself.
Aiden looked taken aback, as though he’d never been talked to in such a manner, at least in recent memory. He stood up tall, straightened his shirt, and held out his hand.
“Very well, miss-“
“Lela,” I added.
He nodded.
“Very well, Miss Lela, I have a concert tomorrow evening so we’ll make a morning of it. I’ll send a cab for you in the morning, and you can be my model.”
I took his hand and shook it, my palms were sweating, and that feeling of faintness rushed back to the forefront of my head. I had a date with Aiden.
3.
“You must be joking,” Liddy said in the cab ride home, “you’re going on a date with the lead singer? That’s the best news I’ve ever heard! I’m super jealous.”
She really did like to talk.
“This is perfect! You can get him to set me up with his bassist, that dark hair of his gets me wet all over, Ooh and those muscles are screaming for some lovin’.”
I felt incredibly embarrassed being in the same cab as her; I could tell the driver was getting a good laugh out of it, as well. Thankfully we were near our apartment, and I could do my best to forget my embarrassment.
Dragging Liddy up the stairs, while she continued working her mouth, was a tedious chore. But, I loved her like a sister and wanted nothing but the best for her. So, even after she spent another twenty minutes making sure her stomach was empty; I made sure she found herself asleep in her bed.
I slept lightly that night; my head was alight with the possibility of tomorrow. Aiden seemed much nicer than I thought, he seemed to cultivate a bad boy image, and every girl wanted him, and I didn’t really feel that much different.
It was a short evening before tomorrow, and the sleep I didn’t get was already taking its toll on me. My muscles felt fatigued, and my head was pounding with a headache. Since I was awake before Liddy I thought it best that I make her some food, she always had horrible hangovers after long nights.
The one thing I would say I was good at was multitasking. While preparing the food I also found ample time to put together a bag full of fun outfits to change into if my photographer needed it.
Most of the clothes Liddy had helped me pick out, she knew what looked good on me, not that I lacked fashion sense, but I spent a lot of time in hoodies and leggings. There’s nothing wrong with being comfy, but Liddy always liked playing dress up with me, like I was her private model.
“Morning sleepy,” I said to Liddy as she stumbled out of her room, still wearing the dress she wore last night.
“Ugh,” she managed before plopping down at the table.
I was already handing her the pain medication we kept for just such emergencies.
“I have no idea what I’m doing today.”
She looked up from her bacon and realized that I wouldn’t be here long.
“You’re doing the Aiden thing, today!” she shouted, apparently forgetting for a moment that she had a killer headache.
I nodded.
Liddy sighed and held her head.
“You know, if you don’t talk much to the guy he might just run off and find someone else to play with.”
I giggled, she didn’t know what we were doing today, and then again, neither did I.
My phone rang, there was a taxi waiting for me downstairs. I started getting butterflies while thinking about meeting up with Aiden again.
“Go, GO! And don’t forget to ask about the bassist,” urged Liddy.
I nodded, took my bag full of clothes, and rushed down the stairs. I still felt it necessary to take it a bit slow, as I found myself a bit clumsy in situations like this.
The ride in the taxi was a bit longer than I thought it would be. I lived in an odd neighborhood. It was the furthest area from anywhere really interesting; so we drove downtown towards the more luxurious part of the city.
As we pulled up in the cab, I managed to make out a small gathering of people, huddled in a circle. I had a feeling that my goal was in the middle of the group.
I pressed past a few onlookers before Aiden caught my eye. He was currently taking a few selfies with some jealous fans, who made me feel more than a little uncomfortable.
“Lela!” he managed.
The crowd turned toward me as he waved, beckoning me closer.
“Hey everyone, this is my friend Lela. She’s going to be showing me around town today. Thanks for finding me out and about, just for you guys I’ll have a special signing at the coffee shop just over there in about three hours. Thank you all!”
The gathered people let out a collective sigh and a groan. He really didn’t have to do that, but it seemed to help as the crowd started to funnel away from the two of us. Of course, a few people stuck around to take last minute photographs and get an autograph or two. And soon, we were finally alone enough to talk.
“I suppose it would’ve been better if I’d worn a disguise or something,” he laughed.
I nodded with a large grin on my face. He still made me flutter a bit.
“Okay, you promised to be my model for the day, let’s see if we can get a few photos before I need to meet back here.”
He started walking in random directions through the street, stopping here and there to take a photo of an interesting contrast on the side of a building, or a photograph of some people playing in the street.
He liked to show me his shots after he took them, and I was pleased to say he had quite an eye for framing up his pictures. The only problem is that I wasn’t in any of them.
“So, where would you like me to model for you,” I asked.
“I’m still looking for the right spot. I know there’s a beach nearby, maybe there’s a nice scenic shot, there.”
I think I understood what he was looking for. I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him through the street towards the beach. I knew a great spot that was gorgeous but barely anyone could get to.
For a Saturday, the beach was surprisingly empty. It was rather odd to see it so empty, but there was a hint of drum music in the air that was quite faint at first, but as we turned I could make out a street fair off in the distance.
The street fair could wait; I wanted to show off my favorite spot.
I pulled Aiden through a broken wire fence, ducking behind a series of rocks that jutted out into the ocean before coming back upon a pack of sand that looked perfectly undisturbed.
To our left was a large concrete and brick wall that couldn’t be looked over, and to our right was an outcropping of jagged boulders that were much larger than I was, but right in the middle was a sandy beach-head that looked out into the horizon.
I tossed off my shoes and ran out to the water playfully.
I could hear a few clicking sounds from Aiden’s camera; he must’ve liked the view as well.
“Okay, you got me. This is a nice view.”
He set his bag down in the sand near my shoes.
“Hey, come over here and let’s take a few of you with these rocks, I like the shape.”
I complied, and walked over, giving my best model stare. He took another few pictures.
“I don’t suppose you have something a little more beach-worthy in your bag, those skinny jeans look great, but it doesn’t look right for the shot.”
I nodded again; I was prepared for this. I started unbuttoning my jeans and slipped them off my slim legs. I was smart enough to wear my bathing suit underneath.
“Okay, that is a truly gorgeous sight. Were you going to tell me about this? Or just make me guess?”
He kept snapping more photos as I took off my top to reveal my underwhelming bust size. I was wondering if he was thinking about his model for the day if he was trying to get me at angles that wouldn’t show off my hips that were too big, or my boobs that were too small.
It didn’t seem to matter to him, though; he continued to click away, never taking his eye off the viewfinder on the camera.
“You are a stunning woman,” he said, “I can barely take my eyes off you.
I decided a change was in order. I popped over to my bag and put on my skirt from the night before, and a really slinky top that I rarely ever wear.
He looked like he was about to lose it, as he kept taking more and more photographs. Before I realized, it had been a couple of hours. Being the center of his attention was getting me a little turned on.
I walked over to Aiden and decided to make the first move. I leaned in close to him and waited for him to lean in. He greeted me almost instantly, tenderly pressing against mine.
I could feel his passion as he pulled me in closer for more kisses. He was a little rough, but I liked it. He stripped off his camera as I began to unbutton his shirt. His chest was thin but powerful as I rubbed my hand along his abs.
He cupped my butt and lifted me off the ground a little, only to throw me back down onto the sand. I laid there while he awkwardly stripped off his tight jeans. I couldn’t help but giggle while he did it.
Romance: Teen Romance: Game On (A Nerd and a Bad Boy Romance) (New Adult High School Sports Romance) Page 63