by Ryan, Rachel
I look between the two girls; I may as well be honest after all I'm going to be with them for a long time.
"Honestly I have no idea. Like oh my god he is hot but he seems a bit egotistical. I know I'm judging him but I can't help it. He's very forward sometimes and I find him a bit of a dick but then other times he's really funny and nice."
Both girls are staring at me mouths wide open. Emma turns to Tori and lightly hits her on her arm. "Are you jealous?"
Tori looks back at her "No I'm totally into Hunter; he's hot. And I heard he is amazing in bed."
I feel my mouth drop open. Did Tori want Jeremy? Just then Emma looks at me
"Tori had a small thing for Jeremy and they hooked up but clearly they have both moved on."
My stomach knots, they had a thing. I guess I was right about him. I need to change the subject I don't want to hear anymore. "Have you been on tour with other bands before?"
Both girls look up and say "yep" at the same time.
Chapter 7
Ava
While I'm finishing typing up a small piece describing the tour buses, I feel the bus stop. Looking up from my laptop I look out and see that we are in a parking lot. What in the world? "Emma where are we and what are we doing?"
"We are in San Fran. This is the venue they play at tomorrow night we will just stay in the staff parking lot for the next three nights."
"Home for the next three nights? Yay! Mass murderers here we are."
"Oh gosh is that some Australian joke? It's bad."
Laughing so hard my head falls back I look at Emma "No, I'm saying we are a prime target for a mass murderer."
"We'll be fine."
"I hope you're right, I better start these profiles. I'm just going to go and get Luke."
Walking out of the bus I look around, yep we are in a parking lot. I make my way to the bands bus and knock on the door. Jeremy comes to the door and gives me the biggest smile. Looking away from him I peer into the bus "Is Luke available for a profile?"
"Luke, are you right to go with Ava, for her to do a profile on you?"
Distantly I hear Luke from within the bus, I can't see him.
"Sure." Just then I hear footsteps and Luke pops up beside Jeremy.
"Hey Ava are we going to your bus?"
"Is that okay with you, it would be great to have a little privacy."
Jeremy is staring at me I don't think he has taken his eyes off me I can't say though as I have been looking at Luke since he appeared.
"Sure let's go." As we walk away Luke breaks into my thoughts.
"Stone put your eyes back in your head. So how's this going to happen?"
"I just want your fans to know a bit about you all individually. So I'll ask you a few questions about yourself then that's all I will need."
Opening up the door I find the bus empty. Sitting down at the booth with my laptop I see that the girls left me a note.
We are taking the makeup and stage clothes inside and also getting set up for tomorrow night.
Em & Tori.
Smiling I look up to Luke "Have a seat and give me a minute." Luke sits down opposite me and just waits. Opening up a new document I type in Luke's name. "Okay Luke I'm good to go tell me your full name and how old you are."
"Well I'm Luke Jamieson and I'm twenty four years old."
"Oh wow, we are the same age. What month is your birthday?"
"August."
"Me too, what date?"
"The fifth. When is yours?"
I smile at him "Mine is the tenth. Cool. What is your favorite food?
"My favorite food is nachos."
"What's your favorite movie and song?"
"Easy, I love The Fast and Furious movies. Choosing a favorite song is a little harder though. There are so many awesome songs out there. 'Famous last words' by my Chemical Romance is one of my fave rock songs from this generation."
"What is something not many people know about you?"
"I have a twin sister."
"Really what's her name? Does she look like you?"
"No we aren't identical, her name is Olivia."
"See these profiles are great I didn't even know that. That's all I need can you send Hunter over please."
"Sure thing, catch ya later, hot stuff."
Leaning back in the booth I close my eyes. Really? Hot stuff? That's so lame. Opening my eyes I turn around to see Hunter standing in the doorway.
"Am I right to come in?"
"Of course, I was just thinking about all the new things I found out about Luke. Take a seat."
Hunter walks further up the bus and sits opposite me where Luke was just sitting.
"So I just want you tell me a few things about yourself like favorite movie and color."
Hunter chuckles "I'm Hunter Morris, twenty three years old. I have sandy brown hair and have blue, green eyes. I like the color grey. Oh and my favorite movie is The Hangover."
"I love the Hangover movies."
Glancing up from the screen I see Hunter staring at me with a shocked expression.
"What? Does that surprise you?"
"Yeah, I kind of thought you would be the Notebook kind of girl."
"I don't mind that one either. But I love a good laugh."
"What is your favorite food? Where have you always wanted to visit? Do you play any other instruments?"
"I love all Chinese food and I always wanted to go to Barcelona. No, actually none of us play more than one instrument except for Brody."
"Really? What else does he play?"
"Piano, surprisingly."
"Thanks Hunter you're all good to go now can you please ask Brody to come around for his."
"No problem, I'll let him know."
Smiling at Hunter I watch him leave as I climb out from the booth and walk to the bathroom.
Stepping out of the bathroom I see Brody sitting at the table.
"Hey, Brody."
"Hey Ava, how has the trip been so far?"
"Really good, I can't wait to see some new places; I'm thinking tomorrow I might do a bit of sightseeing."
"That sounds good."
"You can always come along if you want."
"I think I'm busy preparing for tomorrow night, you know sound check and all that."
"Oh yeah of course, anyway let's get to it, just tell me a bit about you. Your favorite color, song, food, anything."
"I'm Brody Cooper and I'm twenty six years old. I guess black is my favorite color. Wish you were here by Pink Floyd is my favorite song and I enjoy eating sushi."
"I have heard that you play piano, is this true?"
He grins "Have you been asking about me, Ava?"
"Well, that is my job. What is something not many people know about you?"
Brody shifts in his chair, his eye look away from me. "I have a pierced nipple."
I didn't know that and wasn't expecting it either.
"Oh…"
Brody stands and looks at me "Is that all you need?" All I can manage is a small nod and Brody makes his way to the door. I can't believe he has a nipple ring. An image of Brody, shirtless, enters my mind and I quickly shake my head trying to get the image to disappear before I have to interview Jeremy.
Jeremy
I'm sitting on one of the black leather sofas on our bus as Brody walks up the stairs and softly says "Your turn Stone" before flopping down on his bed.
I can't help but feel a little bit anxious and quickly make my way to Ava's bus. Sticking my head through the door I can see her sitting on the booth seat staring intently at her laptop while she types. I tap on the glass door to get her attention and when she glances up at me I ask "Can I come in?"
She nods her head "Sure, come on up and take a seat."
Sliding onto the soft leather seat opposite Ava, I run my hand through my hair "So where do we start?"
Ava smiles almost shyly at me "I just need you to answer a few questions to give our readers a chance to get to know you on a slig
htly deeper level."
"Okay, fire away, Dundee."
Ava rolls her eyes at the nickname, which makes her even cuter, if that's possible. I love that she reacts so strongly to me, even if it isn't always positive. Any kind of reaction is good, right?
"Okay, we'll start with the basics, like name, age, height, hair color. Most of those I can answer just looking at you." Her gorgeous eyes meet mine across the table and I hold her gaze for a few seconds.
"I like it when you look at me." There's that blush again. "But, to answer your questions; Jeremy Stone, twenty six years old, six foot one, and I have light brown hair."
"And your eye color?" She stares into my eyes again and for a moment I forget all about what we're supposed to be doing. I could sit here and stare into her eyes all day. When she realizes I'm not going to answer, she whispers "Deep blue……almost like sapphires. With tiny green specks. They're very beautiful eyes." She suddenly shakes her head as the trance is broken and she looks down at her laptop.
A huge smile spreads across my face and I can't stop myself "You have the most breathtaking eyes I've ever seen Ava."
She glances up at me again and whispers "Thank you…I think. Now, what is your favorite song?"
"That's easy, Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page is one of the best guitarists ever and that song is hot."
"Ohh…okay. Um…Wh…What can you tell our readers that not many people know about you?"
I grin and lean back linking my fingers behind my head "What? Like a dirty little secret?"
"Dirty little secret? No…just something that your fans may not know about you."
As I take my time to think of a response I study her face. She has the most attractive mouth I've ever seen and my body obviously agrees as I think of the things she could do with those full plump lips and once again have to try to adjust my tightening jeans without her noticing. That seems to be happening quite a bit lately.
"Okay, one thing not a lot of people know is that a few years ago I set up a charity."
She looks almost shocked "A charity? I wasn't aware of that. What is it for?"
"It's to help people, mainly women and children, who have been abused."
"Oh! Excuse me if I'm getting too personal, is that something you have experienced in your life?"
"No, you can get as personal as you like. Actually, a friend of mine was a victim of abuse for years and at the time, I knew it was happening but I couldn't do anything about it. I felt helpless. It ended in tragedy and I made a promise to myself and my friend that in future I would do anything in my power to help anybody facing that kind of situation. So I asked my parents to help me start up this charity and it has actually become my mother's baby. She plans a lot of fundraiser events and my parents and I donate to the charity as much as we can."
Ava is leaning forward resting her chin on her hand and watching me closely.
"Wow, that's amazing. I never would have…I'm very impressed. Ah…okay…um…last question…" Ava shifts slightly in her seat and adds "Um…favorite food."
"Choc mint Ice Cream, my guilty pleasure." As I say the words I notice her eyes fall to my mouth, so I run my tongue along my bottom lip and flick at my lip ring "You seem nervous. Do I make you nervous, Ava?" Leaning forward I reach out my right hand and softly lift her chin as she tries to glance down again.
Her eyes slowly drift up to mine "You're very confident and forward. I'm just not used to that, especially since we barely know each other."
I gently tuck one of her loose waves behind her ear "Let's get to know each other better then. Go out with me tonight?"
She fidgets in her seat and closes her laptop signaling that the interview is over. "I can't. I told you that my coming along on tour with you was strictly for work only."
"Okay, if you won't go out with me tonight, come and watch our sound check tomorrow afternoon before the show."
She seems to be debating the offer in her mind but eventually agrees "Okay, I suppose I can come along."
Chapter 8
Jeremy
The next afternoon I am standing on the high stage of the large concert hall that seats twenty thousand people. The nerves and adrenaline all start to kick in when I look out over the empty seats and realize that in three hours those seats will be filled by people that are here to see us. Twenty thousand! So far this will be the biggest concert for us and the thought that it's only going to get bigger as the tour goes on is an awesome feeling.
We play through a few songs from our playlist and as Luke starts the intro to 'Escape' I remember that Ava had said this was her favorite song of ours. The fact that Brody wrote it makes me feel a pang of jealousy, especially considering it's such a personal song for him. I mean, all songs are personal to the writer but this is one that was so personal he actually had reservations about recording and releasing it because it was about his life and his struggle. Even to this day I get emotional when I perform it, knowing that this is the way Brody feels every day of his life.
As I move up close to the microphone and sing the first line I glance to the left and see Ava standing about fifteen meters from the stage beside one of the doors. As I belt out the notes of the song I am conscious of her eyes on me and I can only look away for a few seconds before my eyes are drawn back to her.
She is motionless through the rest of the song and as I reach the final note I notice her lift one of her small hands and quickly swipe a finger along the top of her cheek. Is she crying? Fuck, this woman is amazing. The song ends and I turn and tell the boys to take a five minute break as I quickly head toward the stairs and make my way to where Ava is still standing. As I reach her side I ask gently "Are you okay?"
She wipes a tear from her cheek again "Yeah I'm fine. That song is just so beautiful. I get teary every time I hear it."
I glance over to the stage and see Brody still standing in position watching us with a slight frown on his face. He sees me staring and quickly puts down his guitar and walks off stage. Weird!
Ava hangs around for the rest of the sound check as we play a couple more songs and the roadies and sound guys work around us to make sure everything is sounding just right. The fact that she is standing there watching us makes me feel slightly nervous, but also a bit of a rush. This woman has been on my mind for the last two weeks and I find myself just wanting to be around her all the time. I can't remember the last time I felt that way about a girl. I don't think I ever have. This one is different.
Brody
As I'm playing the final chords of 'Escape' I glance over at Ava to see her wiping tears from her eyes. Wow, is she crying because of my song? Surely not; she did say it was her favorite though. Glancing over at Jeremy I see him put down his guitar and turn to look at me.
"Sounds good boys, let's take a five minute break." He practically runs off the stage over to where Ava's standing and I see her wipe her cheek again. I hope she's okay. Jeremy looks up at me and I realize that I am still staring at Ava, probably looking like a creep. Putting my guitar down I walk off the stage feeling those pangs of jealousy again. I should be the one standing beside her, comforting her. It's better this way though. If we ever went further than being friends it would only end in more tears for her. My life is too fucked up for Ava to handle, she doesn't deserve that. Still, it's so hard watching them together knowing it should be me.
***
Three hours later I'm sitting in the dressing room and I can hear the sounds of thousands of people arriving for the show. The rest of the band left the dressing room a few minutes ago to go backstage, dressed and ready to rock. I have been sitting here since, half dressed, trying to psyche myself up for the performance and make my way to the stage but all I can seem to think about is Ava and how much it hurt seeing her and Jeremy together today. I should be happy for them, my best friend, who has always been there for me when I needed someone. And this amazing girl who, like me, has lost people in her life and deserves to find happiness. I just wish there was some
way for her to find that happiness with me. Oh well, if it can't be with me, who better than my best friend? Right?
There's suddenly a light rapping on the dressing room door. Rising from my chair I grab my shirt from the couch and throw open the door.
"Ava! What are you doing here?"
She is standing there looking so hot in black tights, knee high boots and a long, flowing black sleeveless shirt. She is also raking her eyes across my bare chest with a very dazed look. She's got to stop looking at me like that. There's no way I'll be able to control myself if she continues to stare at me with what looks like desire in her eyes, so I quickly pull my shirt on and ask her again what she is doing here.
"Oh…Um… The boys were wondering why you were taking so long and Hunter told me to come back here and see if you needed some help. Do you? Need help I mean."
She glances down at the floor and I lean up against the doorframe
"No, it's all good, just mentally preparing myself for this performance. The nerves are starting to make an appearance."
Ava shifts closer to me "Oh, I can imagine how nervous you must be. Wait until you get out there and see how many people are here to see you."
I can't help but grin. "Thanks, Ava. That really helped to settle my nerves." She giggles and moves to lean her back against the opposite doorframe folding her arms across her chest which drags my attention to the small amount of exposed cleavage. She seems to notice my eyes have strayed south so I quickly snap them back up to her gorgeous face to see her watching me.
"Brody, do you want to hang out tomorrow? You know maybe show me some sights. You did say that if I ever needed a tour guide… I didn't get around to sight-seeing today due to work."
Fuck, I feel like the biggest asshole "Ah… I can't tomorrow. I'm sorry. I'm sure if you asked Jeremy he would be more than happy to show you around." She frowns slightly as I realize I sound like a fucking jerk. Before I can take the words back and agree to spend the whole day with her, I usher her from the room and say "Come on, show time!" while reminding myself yet again that she is better off with Jeremy.