but the story’s almost over and we are having a really hard time trying to end this

We’ll update as fast as we can!

sorry again!

-Krystal

Chapter 17:
“Hey, ‘Ly—” I stopped dead in my tracks and let out a blood-curling scream. “My pajamas! You murdered my pajamas!”

Alyssa turned around with wide eyes and gaped at me. “I didn’t mean to!” Except, she had a brownie stuffed in her mouth, so it came out more like, “I difn’t meenf toof,”

I ran over to her. “What the hell! Those are my favorite, super expensive Victoria’s Secret Pink pajama pants! YOU MURDERED MY PANTS!”

“I’m sorrrry!” she exclaimed, pulling at the shreds with her fingers. The last shreds of my pants were around her legs. “I thought they’d fit. They fit last week, when I wore them over to Eric’s to feed Lucy.”

“How in the hell did you manage to kill my pants, then?” She turned around, and I caught sight of her ass. “Um, I think I figured out why my favorite pair of pajama pants are dead.” I pointed at her butt, which looked like it had gained about 10 pounds since last week. “’Lyss, what the hell have you been eating?”

Alyssa just blinked at me for two seconds and then burst into tears, running into my bathroom.

My eyes widened. “Crap, I forgot she was pregnant.” At that moment, Eric called me like he had ESPN and knew something was wrong.

“Where is she?”

“Bathroom.” I replied, miserably.

“What did you do?” he asked.

“Wha—? Me? She’s the one who destroyed my favorite pajamas.” I grimaced and pouted like a little baby.

“Oh God, you didn’t point out her butt to her, did you? She’s really sensitive about her weight right now, Dais!” I could literally hear him frowning at me through the phone.

“I’m sorry! I forgot she was prego! It’s not my fault, I mean, I just found out that you have a dick, which, by the way, gross.”

Despite his worry for his baby mama, I could hear him laugh. “Okay, here’s how you get her out of the bathroom: bribe her with brownies and tell her she isn’t fat, and if that doesn’t work, let me talk to her.”

“Are you sure she should be eating more brownies? I mean, she’s already big en—”

“Daisy! This is not helping your situation, you dolt!” I cringed away from the phone and walked tentatively towards my bathroom door.

“’Lyss?” I asked in a timid voice.

“Call her name louder, she probably can’t her you over her sobs.”

“Thanks, because that makes me feel so much better, best friend.” I whispered and then cleared my throat. “’Lyss?” I said a little louder.

This time, she responded with a sniffle.

“Come on out, babe. I’ve got more brownies,” I said, shaking the box of brownies I grabbed before heading to the door for emphasis.”

“I don’t want brownies.” I could hear her pouting through the door.

“Come on, babe. You’re not fat. I was just being insensitive. You’re still a hawt mama.” I said, hoping that’d make her feel better.

She stopped sniffling and I could hear her slowly turning the doorknob. “Really?”

“Definitely.” I smiled at her, and she sniffled.

“Who’s that on the phone?” she asked, like she didn’t already know.

“Baby daddy. Here’s your girl, Halvs. Thanks, by the way,” I said to Halvo before handing Alyssa the phone.

I let Eric comfort her and went to go sit down on the couch, catching up on the episode of America’s Best Dance Crew I had missed last week. Lil’ Mama was just about to criticize Poreotix, my favorite crew, when Alyssa handed me the phone with a cheerful sniffle and sat down with her new box of brownies.

I rolled my eyes at her and smiled at the familiar voice in the phone.

“Hey, foxy lady,” John sweet-talked.

I stifled a giggle and replied, “Oh, I’m sorry. I have a boyfriend. I mean, you sound hot and all, but I’m very committed to this awkward, giraffe-looking guy I’ve been in love with since, oh, what, the 6th grade?”

“Daisy. I-it’s me,” John was so easy to confuse.

“I know, you dolt. I was just messing with you. You are so gullible.” I laughed.

“Haha, oh.” I could practically feel him blushing and smiled.

“I miss you,”

“I miss you too, kitten,” I smiled at the endearment he had given me. “It’s just a few more weeks.”

“Ugh, I know but it feels like a month.” I frowned.

“Hey, it’ll be okay. We’ll see each other soon. You’ll have Alyssa and we’ll talk every night. I’ll even call you twice everyday.”

I giggled. “Oh, shut up. You won’t. You’ll be at a signing with a bunch of screaming girls around you and you’ll forget all about me.” I fake pouted.

“I don’t want any of them the way I want you. There is nothing they could give me that I would want. And why would I, when I already have the love of my life?”

“Aww, you are too sweet to me, loverboy. You know I love you, right?” I gushed.

“Of course. And I love you. I’ll call you later, okay? It’s time for band practice.”

“Okay. Have fun, good luck, and be safe. I love you.”

“I love you too, kitten.”

I hung up with a goofy smile on my face. I looked over at Alyssa and cracked up. She was staring at me with tears in her eyes. “Oh God, you guys are too cute.”

“Oh shut up, it’s just the hormones talking.” I laughed at her.
—
John was right; the days passed by, and cartons of brownies were eaten, and Alyssa’s belly swelled to the size of a small melon, and the hole in my life that John usually filled grew bigger, but on the day we were supposed to leave for New York, Alyssa couldn’t be any slower in getting out of the apartment.

I’d been anxious and got up to pack at 4 AM, and then went back to sleep, but woke up again at 5 and just stayed up reorganizing my spice cabinet. I didn’t even know I had a spice cabinet.

Alyssa trudged over at 9 in the morning with only a few minutes to spare. I had timed it perfectly. Our flight was at 12:30, so we’d get to the airport, check in with our luggage and such, get through security, and do whatever which would take up an hour and a half, counting the traffic and such, so we’d be done around 10:30, which would give us a few hours to have breakfast and just hang around.

“Why do we have to get up so early?” Alyssa whined.

“Alyssa, it’s 9 in the morning. This is not early. We need to get our asses to the airport.”

“But why? Our flight isn’t for a few hours.”

“Traffic, smart one. Besides, I want to be the first ones on the plane. I can’t wait to see him.”

“Look,” Alyssa said, placing her hand on my arm, comfortingly. “I know you’re anxious, but calm down. I’m anxious too.” She absentmindedly rubbed her growing tummy and I calmed a little. It must’ve been hard for her, too. So I calmed down, for her sake, and we finally got on the airplane, safe and sound.
—
I woke up to a loud, “Eep!” from the left of me. Prego lady had taken the window seat and made me take the middle seat, which I hated. I’m semi-claustrophobic.

“We’re finally here!” Alyssa squealed again, quietly into my ear.

I blinked at her, groggily. “Here? Which is…where?” I had taken a sleeping pill and temporarily forgot my own name.

“New York City, silly. I get to see my baby daddy soon.” she giggled and rubbed her belly.

I shook my head and looked out the window. There we were. My dream city. I smiled to myself, realizing that I’d soon be in John’s arms.

Alyssa and I rushed through the checkout, and found the guys beside our luggage. The second I saw John, I dropped my carry on bag and rammed my body into his awkward self. “Jawny!” I screamed, not caring about the people around us.

“I missed you too, kitten,” he laughed into my ear and I smiled into his stomach. Since he was like a giraffe, and I was like a penguin, I only came up to his chest and he had to bend down to kiss me.

“Ew, too much PDA.” Eric said, preferring to kiss Alyssa “hello” quietly on the lips.

“And what are you, the kiss cop?” I threw back.

“And what are you, the kiss cop?” he mimicked in a mocking voice.

“Great comeback.”

“Whatever,” he rolled his eyes and hid behind Alyssa. I laughed.

“I missed you too, best fran.”

He stuck his tongue out at me, childishly, and I smiled, feeling at home already.
John and Alyssa laughed at the two of us.

“Let’s get the girls’ stuff back to the hotel. We have a show to go prepare for.” John took my hand, walked over to grab the bag that I dropped, and carried the other small suitcase I’d brought along. John had told the two of us to pack for a week, since we were going to stay in New York for a while after the tour was over.

The ride to the hotel was quiet and peaceful. I supposed the four of us were just glad we were all back together again.

When we got to the hotel, all of the band guys were out in the lobby, waiting for us. Alyssa and I had to endure about 50 hugs until we actually set foot in our rooms. John had rented a suite for us and the second I stepped in, I felt like I had just entered a Greek palace. The room was gorgeous; crystal chandelier, champagne colored walls, and fake flowers on every table, with a huge cozy-looking bed smack in the middle of the room.

“Oh man,” I said, spinning it a circle, trying to take it all in, “I could get used to staying here.”

We ended up staying in the hotel longer than we planned, if you know what I mean.
Alyssa and Eric had to drag us out of bed to get ready for the show. “I have a surprise for you,” John said, leaving me with a kiss and a promise of a surprise.

During the show, Alyssa and I stood backstage, watching our boys with pride oozing out of our pores at how far they had come. The show was finally closing up, and I thought John had forgotten about his surprise or whatever, when they stopped playing, and cut the lights except for the one spotlight on John.

“So, I don’t think you’ve all met my girlfriend, Daisy.” he said into the mic and all of the girls in the crowd went crazy.

What the hell is he doing? I thought to myself. “Is he trying to get me egged?” I whispered to Alyssa, and she just giggled at me, like she was in on the surprise.

“She’s here tonight. Daisy, come out here. I have a question I want to ask you.” he smiled over in my direction.

I slowly walked onstage and cringed as the spotlight hit me straight in the face. I giggled nervously when he took my hand. He kissed it and I relaxed a little.

That was, until he got down on one knee.

My mind immediately went blank, and I completely forgot where I was, and who I was. It always happened when I was shocked or nervous. I didn’t know how to react. My brain wasn’t processing what I was seeing.

“Daisy Kay,” John started and the crowd that had been screaming their heads off started quieting down. “the first day that I met you, the first time that I saw you in your yellow dress with your hair in pigtails with mismatching hair bows, I knew I’d grow up to fall in love with you. I mean, I didn’t realize it then, because that’d be cliché, and because you had ketchup all over your face, but I knew you’d be the one. So here I am before you, a man, nothing more, nothing less, asking for your hand in marriage. I love you, Daisy. I want to be with you forever.”

All I could hear was my heart. Thump. Thump. Thump.

It barely registered in my mind that everyone was screaming, “Say yes!”

It also barely registered with me that I had said yes, myself. John seemed to realized what I’d said and quickly stood up, pulling me to him and picked me up, spinning me in a circle. He kissed me hard on the mouth and let me go backstage so that they could finish their show.

“Fuck, John!” Garrett screamed into the mic after everyone had semi-simmered down. “You break her heart, we’ll break your face, bro. No matter how close we are.”

John just laughed. “I promise, I won’t break your heart, Daisy.” he grinned widely at me and I grinned right back. “Here’s a song that I wrote for Daisy back in high school. It’s called ‘Daisy.’”

“Well weren’t you the most original-thinking kid,” Kenny joked and everyone laughed.

Daisy O’Callaghan. Mrs. Daisy O’Callaghan. It had just occurred to me that instead of checking the “Ms.” box on forms, I’d have to check “Mrs.” from now on. Or did it not apply until we were actually married?
Married. I’m going to be a wife.
I watched the last of the performance and felt a little woozy. I’d just been proposed to by my best friend, the love of my life. I didn’t know where to go from here. I’d never been really big on change.

The House of Blues in New York City had a terrace on the top floor, which was where I found myself after the show had ended. New York wasn’t known for its amazing view of the stars, but tonight, it was cloudless and I could see the moon and the stars clearly.
I looked up, took a deep breath, and did the only thing I knew to do when I didn’t really know what to do; I prayed. I didn’t see myself as a very religious person. Actually, I’d dissented from God and religion altogether for a while when I was younger, but whenever I felt helpless, I’d pray. To God, or to whoever was up there.

I mean, who was I to be arrogant and completely write off the idea of any higher power? Maybe it wasn’t God, but there had to be someone up there, listening.

So I prayed.

“I know I haven’t done this in a while, but I’m scared. I mean, I know I shouldn’t be. The love of my life just proposed to me. But I’m scared. I don’t want to lose my best friend when he becomes my husband. I mean, I didn’t have a great role model for marriage growing up, so I don’t really know what to expect. I’ve lived my whole life thinking that nobody wanted me, and suddenly, now someone does. And he wants me forever. I’m just scared that I’m going to screw it up somehow.

“I don’t really know where I’m going with this. I guess I just wanted to ask for you, whoever you are, to help me through this. I love him, so, so, so, so, so much, and I don’t want to lose him. I don’t want him to marry me under false pretenses and five years later, realize that I’m not really the one he wants. I just want to be truly happy for once. I want to be able to be the couple who stays together till death does us part. So please. I’m asking for a little help.”

I closed my eyes as I finished my prayer and felt a reassuring breeze sweep over my face. I hoped that meant my prayer had been heard, for once.

I jumped when a pair of arms wrapped around me.

“You are the only one that I want. That is not going to change.” John whispered in my ear.

I smiled. “You’ve been eavesdropping.”

“Only because I’m concerned.” He hugged me tighter. “We don’t have to get married if you don’t really want to. I mean, I realize that would’ve been awkward if you had said no in front of everyone,” he added on, quietly.

I whipped around and put my hands on his cheeks. “Are you crazy? Of course I want to get married!” I nudged his nose with mine and felt his body relax. “I just don’t know how to be a wife.” I looked down at my feet, but stopped when he tugged my chin up.

“That’s okay. I don’t know how to be a husband. We’ll teach each other. That’s what marriage is. We’ll be okay. You are not your mother.”

He hugged me tight to his body after that, and we just stood together for a while.

“John, the fans are—oh, I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?” Garrett’s voice broke us apart.

“Actually, no, we’re fine.” I smiled at Garrett. “You go ahead, Jawny.”

John smiled at his nickname and kissed me on the forehead, and as he walked away, somehow, I knew we would work, because we loved each other, and that was definitely enough.

Chapter by: Nickie

“Are you going to be on that thing all night?” I whined as I lay across his bed. He was in the far corner of the room web chatting with fans. “You leave tomorrow morning, it’s not fair.”

“No, just a little while longer. Now shut up.” I threw a pillow at his head. “Alyssa abuses me.” He said into the computer with a laugh.

“Eric ignores me!” I shouted.

“No, you don’t want to meet her she’s a jerk.”

“Are you talking about me?”

“Of course not, sweetheart.” I heard his chair being pushed back. “I’ve got to use the restroom guys, I’ll be back.” When he walked out of the room I ran over to the computer and waved at the webcam.

“Hey, I’m Alyssa.” I half sang and smiled. The small box where the kids wrote started to go crazy. “Oh, wow I can’t read any of that.”

“Oh wait, I think there’s a slow mode.” I mumbled and clicked around the box, but some of the messages caught my eye.

“She’s ugly”

“She’s fat!”

“Band whore.”

“Leave him alone.”

“You don’t deserve him.”

“I hate you,”

I stopped looking for the slow mode and stood up. “I’ll let Eric figure it out.” I mumbled and went back to the bed.

I turned away from the computer and cried. I heard Eric walk into the room, “Whoa, Alyssa, what happened? Are you okay?” he asked as he walked over, and lifted my chin so I had to look him in the eyes. I shook my head no and pointed towards his laptop. I watched as Eric walked back slowly, approaching his laptop and reading some of the messages he had been getting in the chat. His eyes widened and he looked into the webcam. “Are you guys serious? Alyssa happens to mean a hell of a lot to me, and you guys need to accept that. This is fucking ridiculous. Why are you guys so mean? I… I don’t even want to talk to you guys anymore. I try to be nice and I try to talk to as many fans as I can, and I take the hate and I ignore it, but this is too much. I’m done.” he said, shutting off the webcam and slamming his head on the desk before standing up and walking back over to the bed. “Baby, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe—they only said that stuff because of me. Don’t take it personally. You’re beautiful and I love you.” He sat next to me and pulled me into a hug.

“Don’t.” I whispered in his ear.

“Don’t hug you?” he asked dropping his hands.

“No,” I held onto him tighter, “don’t stop talking to your fans because of me.” I pulled away and watched his pained expression. “Promise me you’ll still talk to them.”

“Are you sure?” Eric asked, looking into my eyes. “‘Cause I would do that. They have no right to talk about you like that….”

“I’m sure. I’m over it now. After all, you’re my boyfriend, not theirs.”

“Sorry again.” I kissed the tip of his nose.

“It’s not your fault… Do you think they’ll be like that if they see me on tour?”

“I hope not, but they might be. Although, most of them are only all big over the internet. They’ll probably suck up to you if they see you.” He laughed weakly.

“I guess it’s going to be harder for me to impress your fans than it was to impress your parents.” We both laughed. “Let’s make brownies!” He smiled widely and pulled me off the bed. “You have to make your own batch though… I’m not sharing.”

“I thought you loved me,” he fake cried.

“You thought wrong, Halvorsen.” He pouted and tossed me a box. “No hard feelings?”

“Don’t talk to me.”

“Aw come on!” I pouted. “What if…you know how you’re always talking about making up a cute nickname for me, but I won’t let you?” I laughed. He nodded excitedly, looking up at me. “Well, I guess…I guess as long as we make our own brownies, you can make one up.” I watched his face light up and him grab his own box and bowl.

“Deal and you can’t take it back!”

“Just make it cute…”

“Don’t tell me what to do with my nickname for you.” I rolled my eyes and started mixing my brownies. I mixed as fast as I could and a lot of it flew everywhere. I turned to Eric and tapped my foot as I waited for him to pour his mix in a pan. He turned on his heel and smiled widely. Then he started laughing. “You have brownie mix all over your nose.”

“Where?” I stared cross eyes at my nose, “Get it off!”

Eric got closer to me, lifting his finger at first before sticking out his tongue and licking the batter right off. I don’t know what it was, but I had a gag reflex as I moved away. “Why would you do that?” I pushed him away, disgusted by the feel of his tongue on my skin. “That’s so gross. Eric, ew, oh my God.” I turned away, afraid to throw up.

“What? Alyssa, I’m sorry!” He laughed a little. “I thought you’d—like it. Sorry,” He said, turning back towards his bowl. I turned around, feeling bad as I checked out his unnaturally thin body. I walked over and slipped my arms around him. As he turned around, I pressed my lips to his before he could say anything, giggling at the surprise in his smile.

“It was kind of cute I guess… in a creepy sexual way.”

“You knew I was creepy when you met me.” I nodded and hugged him tighter.

“Can we put the pans in the oven now?”

“Yes ma’am,” We slid our pans in, sideways so they both fit, “Want to know your nickname now or later?”

“Later.” I mumbled slightly glaring.

“Don’t glare at me missy, you wanted your own brownies.”

While the brownies started baking, I walked back into the bedroom, collapsing on the bed and turning the TV on to see that one of my favorites, Definitely, Maybe was on. I pulled Eric down next to me and while I tried to concentrate on the movie, my mind was on the fact that this was one of our last nights together for a while. I pushed the thought away and got involved in the plot. The poor girl was trying to figure out her father’s past love life and he wouldn’t give her a damn clue as to who was her mother. I heard Eric say my name and I snapped out of it, turning to him. “What babe? Sorry, I got into it.”

He looked at me carefully before speaking, “Do you… do you want kids?”

“Are you pregnant?” Daisy’s voice rang through my mind.

After clearing my thoughts I smiled at him, “Why do you ask?”

“Just…well the movie kind of got me thinking.” He smiled a little. I looked at him cautiously.

“You’re smiling. What are you thinking?” I laughed.

“Well, having a mini-me wouldn’t be so bad. I don’t—It’s stupid to be thinking about this now.” He shook his head, turning back to the movie. I stared at him for a moment, smiling widely as I remembered all the times I babysat with him.

“You’d be a good dad.” I said, nudging his side with my elbow.

“You think?” I nodded, smiling wider as his face lit up. “I hope when I do have kids I have a daughter.” I giggled and cuddled closer to him.

“You are ridiculously cute sometimes.” His face turned different shades of red and he looked away.

“So…” he said when he finally turned back, “do you want kids?”

“Uhh… yeah.” I said, the thought of the creature that might be growing inside of me coming back into my head. “I love kids.” I rubbed my stomach, “And you would be ridiculously cute in little girl form.” I smirked.

“Oh yeah? You think?” He laughed, looking over at me. I knew I should say something. It was at the tip of my tongue. Eric saw me struggling for words and took my face in his hands. “You okay? You seem distracted lately. Especially right now. What’s wrong?”

I turned and looked him in the eyes, not sure how to say it. “I’m fine. I just… I think I might… well… you know how I’ve been eating a lot of brownies?” I asked cringing as his face seemed to show that something clicked in his brain. He is a cross between really confused to kind of excited, maybe even terrified.

“Baby…” he propped up on his elbow and put his other hand on my stomach, “Are you pregnant?” I shrugged “You don’t know?” he whispered. “Alyssa, how long have you thought this?” he asked me. I couldn’t tell if he was upset or just confused. Either way, he sounded frustrated and he voice was raising.

“I dunno. Not too long, I guess.” He sat up and put his head in his hands.

“We…. we used protection though. Every time. How could… are you sure about this?”

“No. Eric, no, I’m not sure. I have no idea actually; I don’t want to think about it right now. You’re right. We used protection. I’m probably just paranoid. Forget about it.” I said, pulling him back down.

“But what if you are?” he was whispering again, and holding me tightly. I shrugged and turned over so I could rest my chin on his shoulder. “Stop shrugging like this isn’t a big deal,” he whined and squeezed me.

“I don’t want to think about it right now… you leave in twelve hours.” We laid in silence and before I knew it my eyes were heavy with sleep.

_*_*

I jolted awake and automatically looked at the clock. It was the middle of the night. We had just spent our last couple of hours together asleep. While I was frustrated with myself, the second I looked at Eric’s face, all I felt was sadness. I wasn’t going to see that, insanely adorable, sleeping face for a while. I sat up and kissed his forehead, hoping it would wake him up. His eyes fluttered open after a while and he looked as alarmed as I felt when I woke up too. “What time is it?” he asked, looking at me.

“It’s like, one.” I frowned. “We fell asleep, Eric. I don’t want to be asleep during our last hours together.” He looked at me, sadness in his eyes as he kissed me.

“I know. Me neither, baby. Come on, let’s go have some brownies and I don’t know, talk. Do something to stay awake,” he suggested, getting up and holding out his hand for me to take.

He made coffee and cut us two large squares out of the pans. I giggled as he actually made sure mine was from my pan and his was from his.  “Are there any girls on the tour?” I asked quietly, embarrassed that I was slightly jealous.

“None you need to be worried about.” I rolled my eyes after he winked at me. “Why would you even ask?”

“Cause I read what all those little girls had to say about you.” He huffed and reached over to stoked my cheek.

“You’re the love of my life. Stop being insecure or I’m going to kick you.”

“You are the only person who can make something cute turn into an insult.” He smiled proudly and stuffed his brownie in his mouth. Then he smiled innocently, “…What?”

“It’s later.” I stared at him with a confused look, “Time for me to tell you my nickname for you.” I frowned and glared at his look of satisfaction. “I think it’s cute.”

“You also think Lucy slobbering on you is cute.” He rolled his eyes.

“Brownie.”

“You have a whole pan, go get some.”

“No, that’s your nickname.”

I just stared at him, shocked at how cute it actually was. I didn’t want to tell him I liked it though. He rolled his eyes. “I’m not changing it…Let’s go for a walk.”

We walked in silence for a few moments. It wasn’t awkward, but it was definitely not how I wanted us to be right now. “So I know you don’t want to talk about this…” he sighed softly, “but I think you should make an appointment, you know to make sure… or get one of those sticks…” I watched his face turn to a rose shade. I bit my lip and squeezed his hand tighter.

“There is a drug store on the corner…” I whispered, “I want to find out while you’re here…” The nervousness was clear in his eyes as he turned in the direction of the drug store.  It was probably the longest walk of my life. The longest. The quietest. The scariest.

And there we were; standing in front of a huge display of pregnancy tests. Each one claimed they worked faster than the other. Each one claimed they were the most accurate. “Does it really matter?” Eric mumbled and turned the opposite way.

“I have no idea.” The sun was finally raising and had to squint to look at the tests. “I’m taking five.”

“Five?” he asked in a confused voice.

“Just to make sure.”

The walk back was the complete opposite. It was short, and I was sitting in my apartment trying to make myself pee way too soon. I wanted to cry… but I felt like if I did Eric would worry way more than he already was. So I sat at table silently chugging a huge thing of Arizona Tea as he sat on the couch and watched Dexter. “Okay… here I go.” I said as I started doing the pee dance. He perked up from his spot on the couch and watched me head to the restroom.

When I finished I set a timer and sat on Eric’s lap as we waited. “How long?” He asked as he pulled us down to a laying position.

“I don’t know I didn’t read the boxes, so I set it for ten minutes” There was a knock on the door when I had just started to get comfortable.  “You get it.” I mumbled.

“It’s your apartment.”

“It’s Daisy, I’m coming in!” Daisy shouted from outside.

“She has a key?” Eric groaned.

“Yeah, she stole it.” She pushed open the door dramatically.

“Go away, Daisy, we’re busy.” Eric said just before she was about to talk.

“You’re sitting around like bums. So fuck you, Halvo.”

“Why are you guys sitting in the dark?” John asked after pushing Daisy out of the doorway and flicking the lights on. I groaned as I closed my eyes.

“These are somber times O’Callaghan.” I mumbled. Just then the timer in the bathroom went off.

“What was that noise?” John asked from inside my fridge, how the hell did he get over there that fast?

“Well they would’ve been first to know anyways.” I whispered into Eric ear as I got up. He laughed softly. “Kiss?”

“WHAT IS THAT NOISE?” John shouted this time.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I said laughing as he started looking around frantically.

“He’s always weird in the morning.” Daisy smiled at him.

“Seriously, what’s the noise?” John said, frustrated. He finally saw the timer sitting on the counter in the bathroom. “A timer? For what?” He looked over at Eric. “Are you baking? Why is it in the bathroom?” he asked, not putting two and two together. Daisy’s eyes widened as she looked at me.

“John, babe, maybe we should go.” she said, nervous, and not knowing how to handle this, I could tell.

“Dais, it’s fine. I—I guess it’ll be good to have someone else that knows.” I said, taking a deep breath as I considered making the move for the bathroom.

“Know what?” John said, obviously still confused. “Halvo, dude what’s going on?”

“Just—shut up.” I said, needing a moment to think. “Okay. Just—wait. I need to go check.” Everyone shut up, John still confused, Daisy and Eric anxious. I was just nervous. I stood up and walked to the bathroom. I felt like everything was happening in slow motion. Eric and I were young. Were kids really a good idea right now? I shook my thoughts out and picked up a pregnancy test, then checked the other four. I breathed in deep and turned to walk out.

“Whoa, is that a pregnancy test?” John asked. I could see it all finally click in his head as he turned to look at Eric. “Dude, you have a dick?” he asked, laughing a bit at his own joke.

“Shut up man,” Eric said, laughing a little bit as well. Daisy hit John and turned to look at me.

“What’s the verdict babe?” she asked, her eyes hopeful, but I wasn’t sure what she wanted.

“Uhh—,  I said, sighing a little. “I—I’m pregnant.” I felt a smile creep upon my face and when I looked up, I saw Eric smile as well.

“So it’s true. You are indeed a dude.” John said, shaking his head at Eric. “Can’t say I’m not disappointed, I thought I’d have you to fall back on if me and Dais didn’t work…guess not.” He, once again, was the only one who laughed at his own joke. “Congrats, Alyssa.”

“Thanks, you’re mildly retarded… but thanks.” I hugged him with one arm and Daisy with another.

“I call Godmother. That’s all I’m saying… Let’s give them some alone time, Jawny.”

“Soo…” Eric said, his voice cracking.

“Soo… I think I should’ve stayed in California.” He rolled his eyes.

“I would’ve found you.”

“What makes you think that?” He crossed the room and pulled me into a hug.

“Because I love you.” I laughed and kissed his cheek.

“This is going to be hard.” I whispered.

“I know.”

You and I
We never get to sleep we’re up all day
We’re overworked and under paid
You and I
We’re always stuck in repeat day by day
Watching time drift away as we burn away
Without you, there’s no reason for my story
And when I’m with you I can always act the same

You and I - Anarbor

“Tell me why we’re doing this again?” John asked me with an amused expression on his face.
I smiled and skipped through the aisle’s of Wal-Mart. “Because I’ve never made cupcakes before, and we’ve only got two days left with each other before you go off on tour and meet some other pretty girl and ditch me,” I joked.
He stopped pushing the cart and pulled me towards him. “Hey, I’ve waited for you since the 6th grade. I can wait a little longer,” he kissed me on the tip of my nose and I smiled.
“God, you’re such a sweet-talker,”
“I know,” he winked. I laughed and began skipping again.
Stopping in front of the cupcake mixes, I put a finger on my chin, trying to decide which cupcakes I wanted to make.
“What’s taking so long?” John whined and I frowned at him.
“I can’t decide which ones to make!”
“Just grab both boxes then, kitten,” he laughed. I grabbed both.
“If we do that, we have to get both icing flavors then, too.”
“Why?”
“Because we can’t have chocolate icing on a chocolate cupcake! It’s gotta even out! Have you never had cupcakes like that?” I asked him with an incredulous look.
“…no?”
“You don’t want to. They’re way too sweet.” I shivered thinking back to Thanksgiving when I was 14 and how I ended up puking all of the chocolate cupcakes I’d eaten.
He laughed and shook his head at me. I stuck my tongue out at him and grabbed the sprinkles I wanted and took off without warning.
“Daisy!” he screamed after me and I laughed at his shocked expression. Just as he turned around the corner, I ducked into the furniture section and pretended to be a statue. When he passed by without looking in my direction, I hid in a gazebo, giggling quietly to myself at my ingenious idea of a hideout, when a shadow loomed over my head.
I looked up slowly to see John’s face directly over mine and I squealed, bumping my forehead into his.
“Ouch!” we both exclaimed at the same time and laughed. He leaned down and kissed me upside-down, Spiderman style.
I pulled away from him with a sudden thought. “Don’t tell Alyssa we’re making cupcakes.” He laughed at me and took my hand, pulling me up from my crouched position.
“We need to get French fries too.”
“Man, you are worse than a pregnant woman!”
I gasped. “Holy fuck.”
“What?”
“I think I know why Alyssa’s been all moody lately.” My mind reeled at the thought that Alyssa could possibly be pregnant! Could Halvo really even get a girl prego?
—
How could she be pregnant and not tell me? That’s preposterous! I sighed in frustration and shook the thought out of my head.
“We should stop by Blockbuster and have a movie marathon,” John said, looking at me out of the corner of my eye. He knew me well enough to know that I didn’t want to talk about what was on my mind. “We can rent your favorites,”
“You hate chick flicks,” I rolled my eyes.
“So? You like them. And I like you. So I’ll watch them with you,” he shrugged and I turned to mush.
“Why are you so cute?”
He laughed and didn’t respond. When we got to Blockbuster, I decided to spare John from having to watch too many chick flicks.
We rented Wanted, Finding Nemo, Grease, and Moulin Rouge! I minimized it to only two chick flicks. My phone buzzed while we were buying popcorn. It was Alyssa.
“Where r u?”
“@blockbuster w/ boyfran. We need 2 talk.” I texted back.
“..?”
“talk to u when I get home.”
—
John and I walked into my apartment, not expecting to see Alyssa sitting at my counter, eating the brownies I’d bought a few days ago.
“Alyssa! What are you doing here? And are those my brownies?” I gaped at her.
“…you said you wanted to talk. And no…” she replied innocently.
I huffed and put the groceries we’d just bought on the counter. I walked over to Alyssa and pulled her into my bathroom, locking the door.
“Man-handled, much?” she asked rhetorically.
“Are you pregnant?” I asked her straightforward.
“What?” she looked shocked.
“Are you pregnant? Is your eggo prego? Do you have a bun in the oven? Are you pregnant?”
“What?” she repeated. “No! Eric and I used a condom!”
“Everytime?” I put my hands on her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.
She looked away and hesitated. “Yeah. Everytime.” She looked back up at me again. I wasn’t convinced, but I let her go anyways. Before Alyssa walked out, I put a hand on her shoulder again.
“Hey, if you are, I’ll support you with any decision you choose to make, alright?”
She nodded with a thankful expression and walked out.
I walked her to the door when all of a sudden, she turned around and hugged me. “Thanks, Zee.” I smiled. “…is that cupcake mix?”
“Nope. Time for you to go.” I quickly pushed her out of my apartment, despite her protests. I could heard John laughing in the background.
“What was that all about?”
“She keeps eating all of my food!”
He laughed. “I didn’t mean that. I meant the whole secretive talk.” He snaked his arms around my waist and I hugged him tight.
“Something Halvo should be worrying about more than I am,”
He didn’t say anything in return.
“C’mon, let’s just go watch Grease.”
“Why are we starting out with a chick flick?” he whined.
“Hey, you let me pick out the movies!” I poked his ribs, the only spot he was ticklish in and glared. I was the only one who knew that he was ticklish by his ribs. Unfortunately for me, everyone knew that I was ticklish everywhere.
I took off around the apartment but with his stupid long legs, he caught up with me before I could even get past the kitchen and pinned me down, tickling the crap out of me.
“Alri-ight. S-stop, hahahah, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe,” I giggled and he stopped, laughing at my breathless state. “Jerk.”
“You started it, babe.” He was being so cheeky today.
I kicked his foot and he kicked back. We had an epic foot battle for about 5 minutes until I stubbed my toe. “At this rate, we won’t get any movie watching done, and you’re going to leave for tour with a bunch of bruises from me.” I giggled, and he laughed at me, pulling me up, only to plop me down on the couch. Instead of letting me get up, he sat on me.
“John!”
“Hmm…I think I hear something…” he joked. He weighed about 50 pounds, so it didn’t hurt.
“Ahh, get off, you jerk!” I said and punched his ribs.
“Ouch, what a hostile couch.”
I pouted.
“Awh, kitten, don’t be mad,” he wrapped his arms around my shoulder and pulled me into his lap. I pouted even harder. “I’ll start tickling again if you don’t crack a smile.”
“…you. Wouldn’t. Dare.” I punctuated each word with a pause. He grinned and started wiggling his fingers and I squealed. “Alright, you win, don’t tickle me!”
He laughed and got up to put the DVD in, poking me anyways. I kicked his butt and sat back on the couch, waiting for my pillow to come back.
I sang along to all of the songs and laughed at him when I caught his head bobbing.
To counter the dose of chick flick, he popped in Wanted afterwards.
“James McAvoy is such a babe…” I giggled.
“Hey!” he said, indignantly.
“Don’t worry. If it was between you and him, I’d pick you, forever.” I said and kissed his cheek. He smiled and kissed my forehead.
We covered each other’s eyes when Angelina’s ass came on screen.
“My eyes! My innocent, virgin eyes!” John exclaimed and I cracked up. What made it funnier was that it was actually true.
When the movie was over, I immediately popped in Finding Nemo.
“I have a confession,” he whispered as I wiped away two tears from the sad beginning.
“What?” I whispered back.
“I love this movie. A lot.”
I giggled and snuggled into his side.
—
The movie ended and I jumped up. “Foooooooooooooood,” I wailed.
John pulled out the bag of French fries and the box of mashed potatoes, beginning to make them. It was also a known fact that I couldn’t cook to save my life.
“Is this really all we’re having for dinner tonight?” John asked, the amused expression returning to his face.
“Si, senor.” I replied with a Mexican accent.
—
Right after we finished eating, I cleared the plates and grabbed what we needed for the cupcakes.
“You want to make them now?”
“Well…yeah.” I said. He just laughed and rolled his eyes at me.
I started to pour both boxes into the same bowl when he stopped me. “You don’t even know how to bake.”
“…but you do.” I smiled at him excitedly.
He rolled his eyes again and stood behind me at the counter, throwing in the ingredients. He placed his hands on mine and helped me mix the mixes together. It suddenly hit me how much I’d miss him, even if this tour was only about a month long.
“Hey, kitten, what’s wrong?” John stopped stirring and hugged me from behind.
“I’m gonna miss you so much,” I whispered. He kissed the side of my temple.
“I’m going to miss you too, kitten.” We just stood there for a while before I decided that the silence was killing me.
“I’m going to put on some cheerful music, now that I want to stab myself in the chest,” I said dully, and John laughed.
I clicked my iTunes on and immediately scrolled to Body Language by Jesse McCartney featuring T-Pain.
I could hear John cracking up from my bedroom as I carried my laptop out.
“SHUT UP, I LOVE JMAC.”
He laughed even harder.
“I DON’T SPEAK SPANISH, JAPENESE OR FRENCH, BUT THE WAY THAT BODY’S MOVIN’ DEFINITELY MAKES SENSE!”
“Daisy, it’s “talking” not “moving.” John corrected me.
I stuck my tongue out at him. “Whatever. I DO WHAT I WANT.”
He laughed. “Okay, the mix is done. Help me pour the mix into the brownie foils,”
“Yusssss.” I said, skipping towards him. “2/3 of the cup, right?”
He nodded. I began scooping the mix into the cups. When I got to the fourth one, John laughed. “Your cupcakes are going to look pregnant.”
“You’re…going to look…pregnant.” I wittily replied.
“Smooth.” he laughed.
It started getting boring, just scooping the mix in and I was eager to watch Moulin Rouge! so I started scooping faster, and I got a few drops on my hand. I licked my fingers and instantly recoiled. “Ew. It tastes disgusting. Does that mean the cupcakes will taste disgusting?”
“No, they’ll taste different after they’re done baking.” he replied, watching me lick the rest of it off of my fingers, recoiling at the taste. “Why do you keep licking at it if it tastes bad?”
“I want it off my fingers and I’m too lazy to wash it off right now.”
John laughed and stared at me for a moment.
“What, do I have something on my face?” I asked, immediately reaching up to check.
“No,” he smiled, placing a hand on my cheek. “you’re perfect.” I blushed as he leaned down to place a short kiss on my lips.
“And you’re so cheesy.” I laughed. “I love it.”
“I love you,” he nudged my nose.
“And I love you,” I smiled. “Why are you being so cutesy and mushy gushy today?”
He shrugged. “No particular reason.” He said it so nonchalantly that I didn’t believe him.
“You’re planning something, I can feel it.” I poked him and he grinned mischievously. I gasped. “You are! Tell me.”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” he winked and I poked his face was a dot of chocolate cupcake mix.
He laughed and licked my face for some reason. “EW! JOHN GERMS. GTFO.” I screamed.
“…did you really say ‘GTFO’?”
“…yeah. Too much Tumblr…” I said. He shook his head at me.
“C’mon, let’s get these in the oven so you can finally watch your favorite movie.” He put the cupcakes in the oven and started the timer.
“How did you know that Moulin Rouge! is my favorite movie?” I asked him, shocked.
“You told me in the eighth grade, duh.” he replied, like it was an obvious fact.
“You still remember that?” I asked, still stunned that his memory was that good.
“Of course, I remember everything you’ve ever told me. I remember that your MySpace password was 35-111 for the longest time because you were so obsessed with Supernatural. I remember that in the sixth grade, you puked because you rode the pharaoh ride at the Halloween fair five times in a row. I remember that you used to think you were fat because your mom would remind you every week, but I thought you were beautiful. I remember that one year, you went through eight iPod headphones, because you can’t keep anything perfect. I remember that when you first met Halvo, you hated him because you thought he was stealing me away from you. I remember that you keep everything people give you because you’re a freaking packrat. I remember that you used to collect all of the tabs on sodas. I remember that you actually like orange juice with lots of pulp, unlike a lot of people. And I remember when you used to love Taylor Lautner more than you loved me.” he finished, and I stood in complete shock. These were the tiny little details that no one ever remembered about me, and yet, he remembered every one.
I closed the distance between us and violently crashed my lips into his.
He pulled apart from me, laughing, after a bit. “What was that for?”
“You have…a very good memory.” I said, breathless.
“No, I was just in love.” he replied, and I melted into mush. He laughed and carried me bridal-style to the couch, putting in my favorite movie. He sat down and I immediately snuggled into him. “I’m like a magnet.” I laughed. “You have such a squeaky laugh.”
“I know,” I frowned. “it’s so obnoxious.”
“I love it,” he said, and I smiled, kissing his cheek.
“You love me.”
“I do,”
I smiled. He didn’t make fun of me for knowing almost every word to the movie, and he didn’t laugh at me because I knew every word to the songs. “How did I end up with someone so perfect?” I asked him out loud.
“You’re so unhinged,” he laughed. “I’m nowhere near as perfect as you.”
“You’re funny. No. I’m so not perfect. And we are not having this cliché argument right now,” I giggled and he poked my side.
30 minutes into the movie, the timer beeped and we both got up to take the cupcakes out.
“It smells so good,” I said.
“It does.”
“Okay, so you decorate the vanilla cupcakes with chocolate icing and I’ll decorate the chocolate with vanilla and we’ll sprinkle all of them with Christmas sprinkles.”
“Yes ma’am,” he smiled. I pressed play to the movie and we watched it while decorating. “Oh, hey, I almost forgot. Which date of the tour do you want to come visit on?”
“Oh, Max is letting me fly in for you guys?” I asked.
“Yeah, you and Alyssa.”
“Okay, where’s the last date?”
“New York. We’re playing two headlining shows there, so that’s actually a good idea. I’ll tell Max.” John pulled out his phone and texted Max really quickly and resumed decorating the cupcakes.
When we were finished, I suddenly felt really tired. “I don’t think I want cupcakes anymore.”
John laughed. “Okay, we’ll just wrap all of them up and then you can have them tomorrow.”
“You don’t want any?”
“I’m not a huge fan of cupcakes.” he shrugged.
“Then why’d you make them with me?”
“Because you wanted to.” he laughed. “Why is that a big deal?”
“It’s not, it’s just cute,” I smiled. “Let’s go finish the movie.” I held out my hand for him and he lead me to the couch. We watched the rest of the movie in silence and I could feel myself falling asleep right after the happy ending. I hated watching it all the way to the end because I cry every single time. I felt John kiss my forehead and fell asleep with a smile on my face.
The next thing I knew, John was carrying me into my room, lying down next to me, and kissing me on the forehead again. I didn’t think it was possible to be as happy as I currently was, but even in unconsciousness, I knew that John had made me happier than I had ever been.

Chapter by: Nickie.

Eric leaves in nine days. NINE DAYS. I didn’t even know what I was going to do while he is gone. Daisy signed up for guitar lessons to occupy her time, and I had nothing. I was currently sitting at her kitchen counter going through the book she picked her class out of while she made us breakfast. “I think I’ll take a jewelry class.” I mumbled to myself as I stared at the small paragraph on the class.

“That would be awesome. You could make me free shit.”

“I would charge you.”

“Bitch.” She mumbled sliding a plate of pancakes in front of me. “I’d teach you guitar in return.”

“I already know guitar.”

“What the hell! Why didn’t you tell me?” I shrugged as I dug into my pancakes.

“You know, I’ve been craving pancakes since yesterday? This is so fucking good.” I stuffed some more in my mouth. “

“Holy cow. You’re going to choke!”

“No I’m not.” I said with a mouthful of pancakes.” I was about to stuff more in my mouth, when I paused, “Hey… do you have any brownies?” she stared at me like I was insane.

“No… but I have brownie mix…”

“I’m going to make it.” I pushed away from the counter and went to her pantry.

“I thought you were craving pancakes?” “

“I want brownies now.” I said in a ‘duh tone.’ I was about to open the box when John walked in.

“Eric is waiting for you; he wants to hang out allloonne.” He sang. I pouted at the box.

“I’m taking this.” I ran out of the room with Daisy shouting that I better save her some behind me. I skipped the few feet to my apartment. Eric was leaning against the opposite wall texting. “Hey Babe.” I said as I went to unlock the door.

“Hey.” He mumbled sticking the phone in his pocket and walking in without looking at me. I pouted after him.

“Are you alright?”

“Fine.” I watched as he flopped on the couch and turned the TV on. I glared at him for a moment then stomped to the kitchen. I made sure I was as loud as I could be while I got everything I needed. When I looked up he was glaring back at me. I kicked the oven door shut after I pulled the pots out. I left the water running and hummed obnoxiously loud. I honestly think I was the first person to make an egg crack so loud. “Are you serious Alyssa? Why are you being so loud?”

“If you don’t like it, leave.” I snapped. He turned away from me and turned the TV up. I turned the mixer on full blast. Once I was done mixing I poured the batter into the pan I was using then threw in bowl in the sink. Then tossed the pan in the oven and slammed the door again. With a huff I stormed to my room and slammed the door behind me. What the fuck was that all about? I watched the clock next to my bed change. Is he going to come talk to me? I barely heard the alarm I had set for the brownies going off. I took a deep breath and walked out of my room… but he was gone. The TV was off and his shoes he kicked off weren’t by the table anymore. I felt a tear leave my eye but I ignored it and went to the oven. Maybe he just went to grab something? He wouldn’t leave without talking about this right? I waited a few more minutes and decided he left; which made me cry harder than the few tears that were falling while I waited. I pushed myself off the couch, I wanted to talk to Daisy about what just happened but when I opened the door I saw Eric standing there awkwardly. “I thought you left?” I mumbled looking at my feet.

“No… I’ve been standing here the whole time.” We stood there awkwardly staring at each other.

“I’m sorry.” We both said at the same time. I smiled at him and pulled him into a hug.

“Do… Do I smell brownies?” he asked pushing me aside and walking in. That’s why I love him…. Wait…. What?

-*-

“Why aren’t you talking to me?” I asked as I poked Daisy. We were sitting on the coach in Eric’s garage as the guys practiced.

“You ate all my brownies!”

“THAT WAS FOUR DAYS AGO!” I shouted and the guys laughed.

“Still…. and then you didn’t share when you bought your own!”

“…’Cause I really wanted them.” I pouted at her. She glared at me for a moment then smiled.

“Fine, I can’t stay mad forever.” We sat silently as they played a few songs. I turned to my side and snuck the brownie I had saved. “Alyssa… is that a brownie?!?”

“No.”I said mouthful turning back to her.

“I hope that goes straight to your ass.” I stopped chewing and stared at her.

“Why…why would you even tell someone that?”

“Why would you sneak a fucking brownie when I wanted one?”

“Well I wanted it more!”

“You’ve eaten like 5 boxes this week!”

“SHUT UP!” Nick shouted into his mic. We turned away from each other.

“Bitch.” I whispered.

“Fat ass.” She whispered back.

“I said shut up!”

“YOU SHUT UP!” Daisy shouted. “We have to leave anyways.”

“Oh man, I never get to hear any other songs.” I pouted then stuffed the rest of my brownie into my mouth. Daisy smacked my arm and marched out of the room.

“Well today is you’re lucky day.” Justin said as he reached into his guitar case. “I brought these for you.” He turned and was holding two CDs in his hand “Our CDs.”

“I LOVE YOU JUSTIN!” I grabbed the CDs out of his hand and hugged him.

“Stop trying to steal my girlfriend Justin.” Eric said from behind us.

“She’s all yours dude.” I rolled my eyes and hugged the guys’ good bye.

“Hey Alyssa,” Andrew shouted as I walked out of the room, I popped my head around the corner. “You should listen to number ten on On Your Side, Halvo wrote it.” Eric smacked him in the chest. I looked between the two and rolled my eyes. I began to walk away again but I ran back into the room and over to Eric and kissed him. He didn’t kiss me back, he just stood there. I pulled away and stared at him; he turned away and picked his bass back up. I stood there awkwardly for a moment before I ran out to Daisy’s car.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, worried as I slammed the car door shut.

“Nothing. Let’s go before we’re late…again.” At work, I just went through the motions. I stacked new CDs on the self, and I put older ones in the right order. I tried to avoid Daisy, because I didn’t want to cause a problem. I was really hoping he was just awkward because the guys were there.

-*-*

Three days. He hasn’t talked to me for three days. He leaves in two. I was spending the day watching movies with Daisy today, but before I walked across the hall I tried calling him again. “Hey, its Eric leave a message.” I sighed and tossed my phone on the couch and walked to Daisy’s, two brownies in hand and the lunch I made for myself. I took a deep breath and walked in with a smile.

“HEY! I have The Proposal in right now.” Daisy said happily in the middle of her living room surrounded by pillows and blankets. “Do I get a brown—”

“No.”

“I hate you.”

“You would think you’d get your own by now.”

“Yeah, yeah.” she grunted and pressed play. After the movie Daisy and I sat at her table and ate lunch. I ate my brownies first, even though she glared at me, then I opened my container. “Oh. My. God. Alyssa. Are you serious?” I looked up at her with a questioning look. “Mac and Cheese…. And tuna?” My stopped my fork centimeters from my mouth.

“Yeah… it’s really good.”

“More like really gross. What’s wrong with you? Do you want to weigh a ton by the end of the month? Yesterday you ate a large supreme pizza, by yourself!” I shrugged. “Don’t shrug at me, when you get fat…”

“STOP CALLING ME FAT!” I shouted and slammed my fork down.

“I’m sorr—”

“I don’t care if you are sorry. I have enough on my plate already.” I fiercely wiped my tears with the back of my head. We stared at each other for a moment.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No…Yes. My parents haven’t called me. I can’t stop eating. You keep calling me fat. No one from back home is taking to me. Eric isn’t talking to me and when we do talk all we do is fight. The guys are leaving in two days. I hate it all.” We sat in silence for a moment. “I want a Big Mac.”

_*_*

“You guys party way too much.” I said from Daisy’s bed as the other girls got ready.

“There is nothing else to do in Arizona,” Tessa defended, “Plus, the guys leave tomorrow.”

“I thought California knows how to party?” Daisy said with a giggle.

“That wasn’t funny.” I said and she flipped me off.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go?” Rachael asked pouting.

“Yeah, there’s no reason for me to be there.” I helped them get ready and walked them to Daisy’s car.

“I’m going to have John check on you before he heads over to Max’s.” I glared at her for a moment and then waved bye to the other girls.

“You’re lucky I like John.” I stuck my tongue out and went back inside. I laid on my bed and faced the window and watched as the sunset. I heard the door open and close and keys hit in the counter. “I’m in my room.” I said loud enough for John to hear.

“What the hell did I say about locking your door?” He said jumping next to me in bed.

“Sorry, Dad.” I said sarcastically.

“Daisy told me to make you come with me.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“I got…” he lifted a bag out from behind his back, “Brownies.”

“I’m not a dog.” I mumbled as he looked at me with an arched eyebrow and a stupid smile. “Give me those.” I snatched the bag out of his hand. “I hate you.”

“I’m your best friend. Now go get ready.” He shooed me with his hand.

“You’re in my room.” His hand stopped waving and he grunted and he out off my bed. “You win this round.” I changed out of my pajamas into grey pants and a black V-neck then slipped on red flats. I left my hair curly and went to the living room, where John was sprawled across my couch.

“Your couch is not long enough for people over six feet tall.” he said glaring at me.

“Well I’m the one who lives here and it’s the perfect size for a person shorter than six feet tall.”

“You are very rude to me young lady.”

“I’m older then you.”

“BY A WEEK! Besides I’m tall—”

“Why are you… I’m going to kick you.”

“Alright, alright let’s go… I’m hungry so you better be too.”

“Can we go to Chipotle?” I asked as we walked to his car.

“No.” I pouted, “I’m kidding I heard how touchy you’ve been about food lately, I’m not going to fuck with you.”

“Who said I’m touchy? I’m not touchy.”

“Daisy, she told me everything.” He held out the ‘v’ in everything

“…Oh. I’m starting to hate your girlfriend more and more each day.” We were in the car now and he was backing up.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” he said dejectedly.

“Oh…sorry…”

“Naw, its cool. We both have crazy relationships, maybe that’s why we get along so well?” We both laughed, yesterday we hung out for like five hours after Daisy fell asleep and we were laughing the whole night. It was the first time all week I was happy.

“Yeah, thanks for last night, I really needed it.” He smiled.

“I’m good at making people feel better.” After dinner we headed to Max’s house. “Don’t worry.” John said putting his hand on my shoulder as he raced down the freeway. “Also I normally don’t drive this fast, but we are four hours late and I need a beer.”

“Alcoholic.” He rolled his eyes and excited the freeway.

-*-

“Do not make me pull you out of this car, Alyssa.” John shouted at me as he stood outside of the car. With a sigh I got out of the car and followed him inside. The moment we stepped inside John was gone. It was like all their other parties, beer pong in the corner, shots in the kitchen, Eric staring at me completely wasted. I turned away from him and went to the backyard. No one was out there, so I laid on the ground and looked at the stars. A few minutes later the back door swung open and I heard heavy footsteps coming my way. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

“Leave me alone, Eric.” I whispered when I knew he was next to me. Instead of walking away like I wanted him too he laid down next to me.

“I’m sorry.” He slurred with a smile on his face as he leaned over me. “I missed you, but I was too nervous to talk to you.” I could hardly make out what he was saying.

“Too nervous to talk to me? I’m your girlfriend, Eric.” I sat up and turned to face him. He sat up too and moved next to me. “You ignored me for four days.”

“Yeah, I know. I was stupid, I just didn’t know how to talk to you.” He sighed. “You like Justin and John more than me.” I stared at him in disbelief.

“You’re kidding me right?” He shook his head no. “They’re just my friends, Eric.”

“You kissed Justin on the cheek, and you hang out with John all the time…”

“I kissed him on the cheek cause he gave me something I really wanted. And you hang out with John all the time too…”

“I’m not a girl.”

“You’re acting like one.” We glared at each other for a moment. “I had the worst week ever, I really needed you, and you weren’t there.” I could see in his eyes that he was sobering up now.

“Yeah… Daisy told me… I just… I’m stupid and I knew you were mad at me and I didn’t want to make anything worse. I don’t deserve you.” His lower lip stuck out and he faced away from me. “I know you hate me—”

“I don’t hate you Eric.” We were both whispering now. “What was it that you didn’t know how to talk to me about? Is it the tour…?”

“No, the tour isn’t as bad as you think it is. I promise… It’s something else…”

“What is it?” He took a deep breath and turned to me. His mouth hung open and his eyes were wide.

“I don’t deserve you,” he started and held his hand up before I protested, “I know I don’t. Everyone knows I don’t, they tell me all the time and they make fun of me. You should seriously be with someone else.” He took a deep breath.

“Eric…”

“No let me finish. When I first saw you I thought for sure I didn’t have a chance. I would freak out and get happy just by you being in the room. Even though you didn’t look at me or talk to me. I thought you hated me. But after Halloween you started getting nicer to me, and we started getting pretty serious… really serious. It happened really fast, and I thought I was just getting lucky and you would get over me soon, but I know you’re not faking this. And it’s hard for me to get closer with girls now, I don’t know who is talking to me because they like me or because they know I’m in a band. Hell, half of the girls I know from school only talked to me because of John.” He took a deep breath. “Then there is you. For some reason or another you like me for me. And… and… I love you.” He was staring at his lap by the end of his speech, so he did see that I was smiling like a fool. I threw my arms around him and whispered in his ear.

“You’re an idiot, Eric. I love you too.”

“You drain the life from me and it feels oh so good”

Count ‘em 1,2,3- The Maine

Chapter by: Krystal

Chapter Thirteen;
Alyssa was passed out comfortably on my floor. Gabi and I poked her a few times, laughing as she snorted whenever we poked her.
“Gosh, I don’t think I blame her, she got some shocking news today.” I said, propping my head up with my palm. I normally couldn’t hold my alcohol well, but the hit wasn’t as hard tonight. The effects of the 6 or 7 beers I had were starting to wear off, unfortunately.

“She wasn’t the only one,” Gabi said glumly. I looked at her curiously. She sighed.
“Kenny cheated.”
I gasped. “That bitch. With whom?”
“Some chick named Melody, or Melanie or something.” she glared at my carpet. I pouted sadly and moved to give her a one-armed hug.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Eh. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Let’s talk about you and John,” she gave me a sad smile. I frowned.
“What’s there to talk about?”
“Daisy.”
“Gabrielle.” She frowned at the use of her full name.
“You love him.” she said, looking at me sternly.
“That’s not the point.” I looked away.
“Then what is?”
“It’s just….you remember what it was like with Kyle?” I asked her.
“Oh God,” she shivered. “Okay, I get it, then. But John isn’t like Kyle. You really love John, and he really loves you back.”
I grimaced. “I dunno…”
“He does not love Mel.” Gabi looked me straight in the eyes as she said this. “Daisy, John’s loved you since the 6th grade.”
My eyes widened. “Really?”
She nodded. “And besides, Mel and Rex are together. They were making out at the party. You didn’t hear about that?”
I felt like a pressure had been lifted off of my chest. “No, I didn’t. Oh my gosh. Really?”
She laughed at my reaction and nodded. I felt so much happier now, knowing that Mel and Rex were together.
“So, are you good now?” she asked me with a small smile on her face. I laughed and nodded. “Good…’cuz, I’m exhausted.”
“Oh, God, same here. Goodnight.” I said to her, burying my smiling face into my pillow, drifting into a deep sleep.
—
I woke up to a ray of sunshine, streaming down on my face. I opened my eyes quickly and grabbed my phone, groaning at the time. I had a pounding headache. Great. Now, the pain starts to kick in.

It was already 1:00. I kicked Gabi and Alyssa, running into my room and grabbing my clothes to shower. I didn’t even bother to check if they were awake or not. I was late for work, again. When I got out of the shower, Gabi had already left, leaving me a warm cup of coffee on my counter, but Alyssa was still sleeping.

“ALYSSA! WAKE THE FUCK UP!” I screamed at her.
“Oh God, my head.” she groaned as I pulled her up. “Oh shit, what did we do last night?” she said, looking around the apartment. “Oh shit, it’s 1:30, don’t we have to go to work?”
“I do, but you start tomorrow. Now I have to get ready so either clean my house or beat it.” she stuck her tongue out at me and left my apartment.
“That heffer.” I rolled my eyes, looking at all the damage the three of us had done. I was almost about to start cleaning up when I realized how late for work I was.
—
“DeanI’msosorryI’mlatebutlastnightigotreallywastedwithmybestfriendsandyou’vegottoforgivemebecauseitwasmybirthdayand—”
“DAISY!” Dean screamed at me as I rushed into the store. I stopped talking. “It was your birthday, I get it. You’ve got a free pass…and besides, boy toy is sitting in the back, waiting for you,” he winked at me and I grimaced.
I walked into the backroom and John smiled at me. I blushed and tried my hardest not to look away.
“Good morning, kitten,” he smiled at me and held up an iced latté. I laughed nervously and took it from him.
“It’s 1:30 in the afternoon, John.” I smiled up at him. He blushed and hugged me.
“I heard what you said last night.” he said suddenly.   
“…about?”
“Mel.”
“Oh.”
“I just want you to know—”
“I know you don’t love her—”
“How did you know?” he asked me.
“Gabi caught them making out at the party last night,” I confessed.
“Either way, I just want you to know that I love you. You and only you.”
I smiled and blushed, pushing my face against his shirt and hugging him to me. “Ever since the 6th grade?”
“Ever since the—hey!” he said, looking down at me. I giggled. “I’m gonna kill Gabi.”
“Awh, don’t. I thought it was cute,” I smiled at him and he smiled back, leaning down to kiss me when someone cleared their throat behind us.
“Ahem,” Dean said with a smirk on his face. We both blushed. Dean laughed. “Awh, you two kids.” Dean walked away and John and I cracked up.
“I’ve gotta get back to the house and pack.”
“But the tour is still three weeks away!’
“Yeah, but you know me. If I don’t do it now, we’ll spend the entire night before the day I leave packing, and I plan to use that nights for other uses,” he winked suggestively. I blushed.
“What makes you think I’m gonna help you pack?”
“What makes you think I was talking about packing?”
We both laughed.
“I’ll see you tonight, kitten,” he smiled and kissed me. After he left, I walked through work in a haze, until I decided to check up on Alyssa.
“Hey, where are you?”
“In my apartment,” she said with an edge to her voice.
“What’s wrong?” she sounded concerned.
“Halvo invited me over to meet his mom and sister and I don’t know what to wear.”
I laughed. That’s all that she was worried about?
“This isn’t funny! What if she doesn’t like me?”
“Oh, Momma Halvorsen? She’s the sweetest person out there. She’s like a second mother to me. She’ll love you, regardless of what you wear, hun.” I could tell she was still nervous. “Look, I’ll be over in five minutes. I’ll help you pick out your outfit if it really means that much to you.”
“Thanks, Zee.”

I rolled my eyes at her and closed my phone. Eric’s mom really was a second mother to me. She took care of me when I first moved into my apartment. I pulled into the apartment complex and started pulling apart her closet. I spent the next hour and a half getting her ready for her date.

John finally came over and I pulled him into the apartment, giggling.
“Hey, kitten,” John smiled into my hair, kissing the top of my head.
“Hi,” I smiled into his shirt. He smelled like soap, and a tiny bit of cologne. I inhaled and felt like I was at peace with the world again. Why was I ever upset at him again? I couldn’t seem to remember for the life of me…
I pulled him over to the couch and snuggled up to his body, enjoying the warmth he was emitting. He turned on the TV and flipped through the channels, stopping on some random movie. I closed my eyes, not sleeping, but not watching the movie either. I wanted to enjoy being happy with him again.
I was close to falling asleep when my phone buzzed. Irritated, I pulled out my phone and flipped it open.

“She hates me.” It was Alyssa.
“what? no she doesn’t stop being a baby.” I quickly texted back.
“she hasn’t said a word to me. She stared at me like she wanted to kill me.”
“where r u guys?”
“olive garden.”

I sighed and got up from my comfortable position.

“What is it?” John asked.
“We’ve gotta go save ‘Lyss.” I rolled my eyes and grabbed his hand, pulling him up. I tossed his keys at him and he caught them.
“Where are we going?”
“Olive Garden.”

We got in the car and I immediately flipped over to the radio. Justin Bieber’s “One Time” was on and I turned it up, rolled down the windows, and started screaming the lyrics at the top of my lungs.

“WHEN I MET YOU GIRL MY HEART WHEN KNOCK, KNOCK!”
“NOW THE BUTTERFLIES IN MY STOMACH WON’T STOP, STOP!” I stopped singing, looked over at John, and cracked up.
“What? I enjoy a little Justin sometimes.”
“Pedophile.”
“What?”
“He’s like, 7 years old, man. That’s sick.”
“Bu—”
“SICK!”
Silence.
“THAT I LOVE, THAT I LOVE YOU!” I couldn’t contain myself. I just had to sing. This song was just too damn catchy. John joined in and we sang ridiculously loud until I realized that I was seriously in love with him. I suddenly felt scared and vulnerable; if I told him how I felt, then he’d have complete control over my heart, and that terrified me.

John noticed that I got quiet and turned down the radio. “Are you alright, kitten?”
“I’m fine,” I smiled, obviously unconvincingly.
John looked at me funny, but let it go. We pulled up into the parking lot and I got out as fast as I could, practically running to the door. Yanking it open, I expected to see Alyssa cowering in front of Dana and Momma Halvorsen. Instead, some bitch was terrorizing my best friend.
I was too stunned to move, at first. Until I saw her deliberately pour wine on my favorite shirt. My $36 shirt. I saw Alyssa run off angrily into the bathroom and stormed up to the waitress, who didn’t look sorry in the least.
“Look, heffer, that was my best friend you were just messing with. Who the fuck do you think you are? I am about to seriously fuck up your face. Do you know how expensive that shirt was? $36, bitch. It is also my favorite shirt, and now, I’m pretty sure you just fucking ruined it.” I said in a low, deadly voice. “Now, you better run off, before I shove my fist into your face.” The waitress whimpered and ran.
“Daisy, what are you doing here?” Eric asked me, laughing incredulously.
“Saving your girl’s ass, that’s what.” I stalked off angrily into the bathroom.
“Daisy is going to kill me,” I heard Alyssa mumble, staring at the shirt miserably.
“No, I’m not. I saw the whole thing.” She asked me what I was doing here and I told her I’d come to save her. I pouted at my ruined shirt and put an arm around her shoulder, leading her back to the table.
When we got back, I saw that John had ordered my ravioli for me I sent a grateful smile towards is way. He was sitting beside Momma Halvorsen, so I took a seat beside Alyssa. I suddenly realized how hungry I was and inhaled my ravioli. John offered Alyssa a different shirt to wear since she said it was itchy and after she changed into it, she finished her food and we got the bills.
I ripped up the bill that waitress had the nerve to writer her number on, and then we headed off to Rocket’s band practice. Alyssa, John, and I watched as they rehearsed a few songs. I sang along in the background to a few of their newer ones when Dana walked in with Tim on the phone. Eric put it on speaker and Tim informed us all that the boys would be going on tour with The Maine and This Century. Even if it was a shorter tour, I could see that Alyssa was crestfallen.
“Hey, let’s go take a walk.” I told her, grabbing her hand and pulling her outside. “You okay?”
“Yeah. It’s just…I’ve never been in a relationship that’s so inconsistent.”
“Well, hey. I’ve been there a few times. It gets easier. There’s more technology these days. He could call you every night, or you could borrow my webcam and chat with him through that every night. Really, it’s not that hard, I swear. I mean, it’s a poor substitute for the real thing, but anything is better than nothing, right?”
“I guess so.” She still looked a little down.
The sun had begun to set and I saw lights flickering in the distance. That meant that the autumn fair was finally in Tempe. I got a brilliant idea and smiled. “I know the perfect thing to make you feel better.”
Alyssa gave me a questioning look, but I just grabbed her hand and pulled her back to Eric’s house.
“Guys, I have a brilliant idea.” I exclaimed. The guys stopped talking and turned to me. Eric looked a bit worried about Alyssa but I gave him a little reassuring look. “How about we go have a bit of fun tonight?”
“…don’t we have fun…every night?” Nick asked and I rolled my eyes.
“Yes, dumbo. But that’s with drinks. I meant innocent fun, like the kids we still are.”
“What did you have in mind?” John asked.
I smiled. “The fair is in town!” It was a tradition. Each year since the 5th grade, we’d all gone to the fair. There was this scavenger hunt, and we’d always pair up but Eric would never have anyone.
“This year Eric can go with—”
“You, John.” I laughed nervously. “I’ve got Alyssa this year. You always get too distracted with the games and we never win.”
“But—” Alyssa started.
“Nope. You’re my partner.” I said stubbornly. John looked crestfallen. We always partnered together.
“What time are we going?” Justin asked.
“Let’s all meet up there now.”
“Okay, I’ll text the other guys.” Andrew said, pulling out his phone as I turned to leave.
I had the idea that I was going to drive with Alyssa when instead, John walked out with.
Surprised, I got in the passenger seat and the awkward silence that filled the car was unbearable.
“Are you okay?” John asked me for the second time that night.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said in an air-y tone.
“No, you’re not. You’ve been acting weird ever since we got to the restaurant.”
I shrugged. “Maybe I’m just tired?”
“That’s your excuse for everything, Daisy. If something’s wrong, you can always talk to me about it, y’know.”
“I know.”
Awkward silence.
“So who’s going to protect you from the clowns?”
My eyes widened ten-fold. Alyssa and I were both deathly afraid of clowns. “Maybe they won’t have them this year?”
“…Daisy, you say that every year, and every year, I have to rescue you from the funhouse.”
We pulled up at the fairgrounds and I blanched; there were clowns scattered everywhere. I looked over to the side and saw Alyssa clinging to Eric. We were so not doing this scavenger hunt together.
“…still want to be my partner?” I asked John in a quiet, squeaky voice.
He laughed and took my hand, kissing my fingertips and I melted. “Of course. C’mon.” We got out of the car and Alyssa looked at me understandingly.
The entire crew was there. Halvo was with Alyssa, I was with John, Nick was with Andrew, Garrett was with Rachael, Kennedy and Gabi stood apart, Jared was with Tessa, Pat was with Lauren, and Justin was alone.
I walked up to Justin questioningly. “Why are you alone?”
“Oh, I’m not…” he trailed off. I was still confused but John was always eager to get a headstart.
“No fraternizing with the enemy!” he exclaimed and I laughed.
“Wait, who are you going with, Gabi?” Alyssa asked her.
“Rachael and Garrett.”
“And Kenny?”
“Jared and Tessa.”
I sensed there was still a lot of tension between the two of them so I decided to break it.
“What’s the list this year?” I asked. We always made up our own scavenger hunt. The winners got a bunch of free tickets for the rides and games that the losers each chipped in to buy.  Every year, Nick and Justin won, but I was determined to win this year. The circumstances were different. Nick pulled a list out of his pocket. He always planned it and made it as difficult as he could. Since it was just things scattered around the fairgrounds, we had to take photographic proof with our phones and forward them to the other teams.
“A bunny, a carved vampire pumpkin, a crying kid, puke spots—”
“Eww,” Alyssa said.
“—a pair of cowboy boots, a kid dressed up in a costume, and…a clown.”
“Cheater!” I screamed, kicking him in the shins.
“Ouch!” he screamed.
“You know that Alyssa and I are both terrified of clowns. That’s not fair!”
“But you were watching IT perfectly fine,” Alyssa said.
“Yeah, because that was in the TV screen, not in real life! I vote that we look for something else.”
“How about…a black cat?” John suggested for my sake. He had no problems with clowns.
“Cliché, but good enough. Everyone okay with that?” Nick asked and Alyssa and I nodded. “It’s 6 o’ clock. The scavenger hunt is over at 8. When you find something, take a picture of it and forward it to all of us. Got it? Good. Go.” We all set off in our own directions and John lead me over to the cotton candy machine. I laughed.
“This is why we never win,” I poked him.
“What, we’ve got two hours! Plus, the list is shorter this year, and a lot easier. Look, there’s a kid crying right there!” John pointed and snapped a quick picture, sending it to the groups. I saw what looked like Justin, but the guy was walking with a girl so it couldn’t have been him.
I rolled my eyes at John as he bought a huge cone of cotton candy. I tore off a piece of his cotton candy and popped it in my mouth as we walked around the food stands for a while. I spotted a caramel apple coated with Oreo on the outside and immediately had to have it. I pulled John over and made him buy me it.
Before I even took a bite, I got a bit of Oreo on me and wiped it off while John laughed at me. He grabbed a bunch of napkins and bought me a water bottle, just in case. I started chomping my way through it and by the time I was done, I felt like I was on a sugar coma. John wiped the crumbs off of my mouth and we started our scavenger hunt again.
“Wanna go into the funhouse?” John asked. I nodded and slipped my hand through his. Despite the clowns, I loved funhouses. We walked by the fun mirrors and I laughed as John’s reflection didn’t change in the one that was supposed to make you look taller.
“That’s because you’re already a freaking giant. I mean, what the hell do you eat?” I said and he laughed. We walked through the next section and I was startled when a jet of air blew up my legs. I actually screamed and clung onto John.
“It’s just air, Daisy.” he said, rubbing my shoulders.
“It just surprised me.”
“Seven years and you still can’t remember the sections?” he laughed.
“Man, I can’t even remember last week.” He smiled at me and kissed my forehead. I blushed and continued walking.
Next, we had to walk through the section that shook the floor as you walked, making it hard for a clumsy person like me to walk through it. Everytime I fell, I pulled John down with me and we’d end up in a tangled heap of limbs on the ground. “You are so clumsy.” he said and I laughed. This was obvious. I had trouble walking with socks on.
When we got to the other side, the floor immediately dropped and I yelped. Once again, I clasped onto John and he picked me up, setting me straight. “We should go to fairs more often if this is your reaction to everything,” he winked cheekily, and I rolled my eyes. We reached the top of a huge platform and I looked down; it was a gigantic slide, leading into a giant ball pit. I squealed. This meant this it was the end. Just as I was about to step onto the slide, a clown popped out from my left and I screamed, jumping into John.
“Hi, kids!” the clown said. I screamed again and jumped down the slide with John right behind me. I scrambled through the ball pit and clawed my way towards the exit, not caring if John was behind me.
Once I got outside, I noticed that the sun had just sunk beneath the horizon, and it had gotten a bit chillier. I took a deep gulp of fresh air when I saw Eric and Alyssa come my way. Alyssa saw me and waved. “Where’s John?”
I pointed back to the funhouse. “A clown popped up out of nowhere and scared the shit out of me.” I said.
“You left John behind to get eaten by a clown?” Alyssa exclaimed and Eric cracked up. I looked behind me and the door opened, revealing a very disheveled John.
I giggled and held my arm out towards him. He took it and hugged me close. “I was almost killed in there, Dais. The clown chased after me with a bloody balloon sword and when I got to the ball pit, he threw balls at my face and suffocated me in cheesy jokes.”
“Har har har.” I said, unamused. He loved to tease me. Alyssa pulled me to the side.
“So, are you okay now?” she whispered in my ear. I shrugged. As I shrugged, I got a chill and shivered. John noticed this and walked over to me, placing his leather jacket on my shoulders. I smiled and kissed his shoulder in thanks. He walked back over to Eric and they started talking about who’d kick who’s ass at the carnival games.
Alyssa gave me a stern look. Suddenly, all of our phones bleeped. It was two pictures from Gabi, Rachael, and Garrett; a kid crying, standing next to puke.
“So gross,” I said and  deleted the texts. I saw a black cat and promptly snapped a picture and sent it to everyone as Alyssa did the same.
“Game on, bro.” I said to her, grabbed John’s hand, and took off, laughing at the shocked faces of all three of them. “We are going to win this year, John Cornelius O’Callaghan the 5th.” I said soberly. “Put your game face on.” He screwed up his face and I laughed.
For the next half hour, the hunt was intense. I kept getting texts from everyone, and with each picture, I got even more competitive. John and I scoured the place from head to toe, and within 15 till 8, I had added up the score to everyone having 6, with only one picture missing; the bunny. The last few minutes were even more fierce.
5 minutes till 8…
4 minutes till 8…
3 minutes till 8 and still, no texts.
“Where the fuck are you supposed to find a bunny at a fair?” I screamed in frustration, earning a few looks at passerby’s. I stuck my tongue out at them and John snickered.
“Right…there.” he said, snapping a picture at something behind me, and I quickly turned around to see a bunny hop away. I jumped up and squealed, tossing my arms around John’s neck and jumping into his arms.
“We won!” I laughed happily, tossing my head back to look at his face. He smiled and texted to the other guys where we were.
Everyone was sulking as they walked up to the ticket booth, but not as much as Nick. He had won every year since the 5th grade.
“We. Won.” I said, jabbing his shoulder twice. “Pay up, biznotch.”
That made him crack a smile. Everyone chipped in for the tickets and we then split up again to go play the games, only in bigger groups this time. Eric and John wanted to see who was stronger with the Ring the Bell game where you had to pound the mallet to see how far you could get it up.
Alyssa and I trailed behind, wearing our boyfriend’s jackets and discussing nothing in particular. John went first and got it up pretty high. He won a stuffed kitten for me and I happily took it. Eric went next, but ended up getting the same result as John, winning a stuffed panda for Alyssa.
“My muscle man,” Alyssa said to Eric and a stupid grin grew on his face as we laughed.
We walked around for a bit until I spotted the game with the milk bottles where you had to knock them all down to get the prize. Since John had won a kitten for me, I’d decided that I’d have to win a giraffe for him. I put all my muscle into it and ended up knocking over one on the first try. The second time, I knocked over a few more, and the third, I completely knocked them all down. I pointed at the giraffe and gave it to John. He laughed and kissed my forehead. Alyssa and Eric went to play some more games while John and I wandered over to the Ferris wheel.
“You never ride the Ferris wheel.” John said to me.
“That’s because I’ve never won the scavenger hunt before…..and I’ve never had a boyfriend to ride it with,” I smiled shyly. John smiled and took my hand, leading me over to one of the seats. I could hear music in the background and hummed to it quietly. As the wheel turned slowly, going higher and higher up, I closed my eyes and placed my head on John’s shoulder.
As we reached the top, I opened my eyes and looked at the breathtaking view. The lights looked all fuzzy from up top, and it hit me that this was the perfect opportunity.
“Hey, Jawny,” I said, looking up at him.
“Yeah, kitten?”
“I love you,”

Chapter by: Nickie.

im serious! put your thinking caps on!

Nickie and I are having a little competition.

WE want YOU to make up Justin’s girlfriend.

give us her name (first and last), her age, what she’s like.

and we will pick.

or if its hard to choose we will make her up using a mixture of what you guys come up with.

post here to keep it fair

You know those moments where something feels like it’s in slow motion and you try to stop what’s happening but it’s no use? That’s how that moment felt. I tried to turn away so I wouldn’t throw up on her, but I couldn’t. We paused for a moment, our shouting stopped, and just stared at each other. In that sort of, ‘I know that really happened, but did that really happen kind of way,’ not wanting to believe it. Then she screamed, and started to cry. Inside I was smiling and laughing because let’s face it; I really hate her right now. But I yelled a frantic “I’m sorry” as she pushed past me and down the stairs. I just wanted to get home; I stumbled back downstairs in search of John and Daisy. They were waiting by the door with Gabi. The three of the waved at me and just as I reached them someone walked in from the kitchen with a birthday cake.

“We still have to sing Happy Birthday and open presents!” The person shouted. I groaned inwardly, but Daisy clapped excitedly and ran towards the cake. John threw his arms around mine and Gabi’s shoulders.

“Come on ladies, a few more minutes won’t kill us.” He pulled us towards the crowd forming even though we both protested. We all sang, more like shouted, happy birthday to her and cake was pasted around while she slowly opened presents.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to see Eric his facial expression was sad. “You’re ignoring me again.” His mumbled, “Why? Is… Is it Poppy, because she doesn’t mean anything to me? I swear.” I turned away from him and tugged on Gabi’s arm.

“Come outside with me, I need some fresh air.”

“Daisy’s almost done can you wait?” she asked skeptically.

“Are you going to talk to me?” Eric asked tapping on my shoulder again.

“No, I can’t. Please come outside with me.”

“Okay, fine.” She stared behind me at Eric before she linked arms with me and we headed towards the door. “Why are you ignoring him?” she asked as we took a seat on the curb.

“He didn’t tell me he was in a band.” I mumbled.

“Wow, you’re seriously mad about that?”

“Yeah, I think that’s something you should tell your girlfriend.”

“I thought you weren’t his girlfriend.”

“Well… I’m not…. But still.” I stuttered stupidly.

“Maybe he just wanted a girl who liked him for who he is…” she sighed, “You’re new to all this, but all the guys just have girls throwing themselves at them. It’s a nice change for them to meet someone who doesn’t know who they are or to be home with the people they grew up with…”

“You’re right… I’m stupid.” I buried my face in my hands.

“Can I talk to Alyssa for a sec, Gabi?” Eric asked from behind us.

“Yeah, I’ll go see if Daisy is done yet.”  She got up from her spot and Eric replaced her.

“Where’s my jacket?”

“I dunno, it ran away.” I said, my face still in my hands so it came out muffled.

“Just how much did you drink?” he laughed when I shrugged. “So, John wouldn’t tell me why you’re mad at—”

“I’m not mad anymore,” I said lifting my face out of my hands, “I was just overreacting and it was stupid.” I buried my face in my hands again.

“Was it something Poppy-”

“Her name is Poopy.” I corrected him; he laughed softly.

“Was it something Poopy said?” I nodded. “What did she say?”

“First, she said she was your girlfriend,” I sighed sitting up straight, “I think she wanted to fight me.” He laughed.

“We broke up a long time ago.” He said pulling me to his side.

“I know, Mel told me. Then she…” I paused and sighed.

“She what?”

“Well Mel said something about you being on tour. I asked Daisy, she said you’re in a band…” He tensed up.

“Oh.” Was all he said. I looked up at him and he stared angrily ahead.

“Now you’re mad.” I mumbled after about a minute of awkward silence.

“Well, I wanted to tell you myself.” He said letting out a heavy breath. “Now you’re mad at me for it.”

“I’m not mad anymore. Gabi had a few words of wisdom for me.” I said pulling him into a hug. He hugged me back and ran his hands through my hair.

“You smell like throw up.” he mumbled and kissed the top of my head as he pulled away and looked at me.

“I threw up on Poopy.” I said nonchalantly and smiled as he tried to fight off his laughter.

“Seriously?” I nodded. “That’s fucked up.”

“She wouldn’t get out of my way.” I said defensively but he laughed again.

“Are you coming home with me?” Eric asked a hopeful look in his eyes.

“No!” Daisy yelled as she squeezed in the middle of us. “You’ll just try to get in her pants again. She’s coming home with me; she has to rock out with me and Gabi.”

“But—” I started.

“NO! I do not want any Baby Halvo’s running around. You’re coming home with me and Gabi, dammit.” I glared at her.

“We use protection.” I said with pride.

“Okay ladies, enough of that talk.” John said walking up holding all of Daisy’s presents. “Ready to go?” We walked towards John’s car as Daisy and Gabi tried to Moonwalk to the car. “I don’t think I should leave these three alone while they’re drunk. They might burn the whole state down.”

“I’m a good drunk.”

“You threw up on Poppy.” Eric said laughing.

“You threw up on Poppy?” John asked, laughing himself.

“Her name is Poopy.” I mumbled.  “Besides, I’m sobering up.”

“Not when we get back to my place.” Daisy shouted from the car. Before I stepped in the car Eric pulled me into a hug.

“Good night baby, see you tomorrow.” he whispered in my ear.

“I think I have work tomorrow.” He laughed slightly.

“I’ll come visit you.” He groaned. “Never mind, I totally forgot I was babysitting my neighbors kids.” I giggled at the thought of Eric babysitting, kissed his cheek, and got in the car. I sat in the back with Gabi; she was dazed out and looking at John’s head mumbling that he had the best hair ever. Daisy was in front scrolling through John’s iPod.

“Fuck it, I can’t choose I’ll put in on shuffle.” Daisy said putting the iPod down and sitting back in her seat. ‘So What’ blared through the speakers. The three of us looked at each other, then at John and laughed.

“What?” he asked drumming the beat on the steering wheel, “Pink’s my gurl.” He said with a lisp. We all laughed harder, and he turned it up to drown us out.

“I have one thing to say about this song.” Gabi slurred.

“Yeah?” I asked giggling as she reached over and turned the music even louder.

“Fuck Kennedy Brock.” she shouted and started dancing. Daisy joined by waving her arms around at the car next to use, earning the finger from the driver who sped off. I giggled and started dancing with them, against John’s wishes; he was shouting that we were being drunken idiots and that we better not get ourselves sick and throw up in his car. John dropped us off and we stumbled into Daisy’s apartment where I woke up the next morning with no recollection of what happened.

“ALYSSA! WAKE THE FUCK UP!” Daisy yelled shaking me.

“Oh God, my head.” I groaned as she pulled me up. “Oh shit, what did we do last night?” I said as I surveyed the room I looked at the clock. “Oh shit, it’s 1:30, don’t we have to go to work?”

“I do, but you start tomorrow. Now I have to get ready so either clean my house or beat it.” I stuck my tongue out at her and left her apartment.

I’m never drinking again, I thought to myself as I took some Advil. I brushed my teeth and took a shower and after feeling satisfied that the night was washed off of me, I called Eric. “I don’t have work today and Daisy kicked me out.” I said when he answered.

“No Madi that’s not for babies.” He said, his voice sounding far away, “Sorry Babe, she was trying to get my bass. Do you want to come over? I could use some help and we’re going to go swimming.” I laughed.

“I’ll be right there.” I changed into my bathing suit and put a tank and a pair of Eric’s shorts over. I made it to Eric’s house without getting lost and just walked inside. “Halvo?”

“Living room!” he shouted. I navigated my way through his house to find him knee deep in toys, and a little girl sitting on his back, when he tried to get up she pulled his hair and laughed when he yelped.  I giggled. “Not funny, get his monster off of me.”

“Aw. She’s not a monster.” I picked her up and swung her around. “Hi, I’m Alyssa. What’s your name?”

“Madison, but Halvo calls me Madi. I’m three.” She said giggling and held up two fingers. I helped her out by lifting up her third finger. “That’s what I meant.” She giggled. “You’re pretty, are you Halvo’s girlfriend?” I looked behind her at Eric who was looking at me curiously.

“Um, yeah, I’m his girlfriend.” She put her hand to my ear to tell me a secret.

“He is kind of weird.” I giggled.

“Hey, no secrets.” He said as he pulled us both into a hug. She let out a high pitched noise that was a cross between a scream and laughter. “Are you ready to go swimming?” Eric asked her. She nodded her head and wiggled out of my arms.

“I’ll go change!” she yelled and ran down the hall way.

“What?”  I asked as he stared at me, still hugging me.

“Did you mean that?” I smiled and stood on my toes to kiss him.

“Yeah, I did.”

“Yes!” he said pumping his fist in the air. “I knew you’d give into me one day.” I pinched him as Madi walked back in the room with a bright pink suit on.

“I’m ready!” she announced.

“Okay, meet us at the back door.” Eric said turning and smiling at her. She skipped off, with two arm floaties in her hands. “So, um… you’re not still mad at me right?” he asked letting me go and rubbing the back of his neck. I kissed him again and shook my head no. He smiled, “I have to change, so can you watch her?”

“I’m probably more capable of watching her than you are.” I said with a giggle. He rolled his eyes and left the room.

“I’m waiting!” Madi yelled as I walked towards the back door, I smiled a opened it and followed her out.  She put her floaties on and jumped in. I slipped out of my clothes, folded then and tossed them on a chair. “Get in!” Madi yelled at me.

“I’m waiting for Eric.” I called back to her.

“Eric smells!” she shouted and attempted to go underwater but she floated to the top.

“I do not smell.” Eric said as he walked out with three towels. “I took a shower today.” Madi giggled from the water and I rolled my eyes.

“Sure you did Halvo.” I said with a smile. “Why are you staring at me like that?” I asked with a smirk as he looked me up and down.

“Um… sorry I didn’t mean to.” He mumbled looking away and a blushing.

“Eric, you’ve seen me naked.” I laughed and jumped into the pool. “Are you getting in or not?” I asked when I surfaced; he glared at me and jumped in.  Only a few minutes later Madi’s mom’s head popped up over the fence and said it was time for her to leave. She whined and we all got out of the pool. Eric gathered all her things and took her home. I sat on his bed and dried my hair as I waited for him to get back. I smiled at my clothes that were neatly folded on his dresser and wondered about the conversation he must’ve had with his mom when she found them. He appeared at the doorway out of breath and a smile on his face. “You ran back here?” I asked with a laugh.

“Yeah I wanted to see you.” He laughed nervously.

“You’re so weird. So what else are you doing today?”

“Dinner with my mom and sister then band practice.”

“Oh really? Can I join?”

“Dinner? Sure.”

“I meant band practice.” I said laughing.

“And I want you to come to dinner with us. They want to meet you.” I arched my eyebrow at him.

“You told them I was your girlfriend this whole time didn’t you?” I asked suspiciously. His eyes widened. “I KNEW IT! You can’t keep secrets from me Eric James Halvorsen!”

“So you know about my other girlfriend?”

“Lucy doesn’t love you.” I joked.

“YES SHE DOES!” I laughed as he jumped on the bed next to me. I wiggled closer to his side and he wrapped me in his arms. “Are you coming to dinner willingly or am I going to have Justin and Nick help me drag you there?”

“First, I am not afraid of Nick, I could snap him in half and, second, Justin and I are best friends. He would never drag me anywhere.”

“So you’re coming?” I groaned. “That’s a yes. Be ready by five.”

“Fine, let me go home so I can get ready.”

“Why, you have clothes here?”

“Let me go.” I whined as I tried to wiggle out of his grasp.

“Never! I don’t want you to leave, I never get to spend the whole day with you.” He tightened his grip.

“Yes you do cry baby. Let me go or come with me.”

“I’m coming with. Let me just get some clothes to change into at your place.”

“You’re getting ready at my place?”

“Well, duh.” I groaned as he ran around his room looking for clean clothes. He grabbed some clothes and when went to my place he got ready in the extra room and I got ready in mine. When it sank in…

Oh, God. He wants me to meet his mother and sister? What the hell am I gonna wear? I ran into my closet and started to pull it apart, looking for pro-family outfit. I’d never actually met a boyfriend’s family before so I had no idea what to wear. I mean, what if I wore the wrong thing and gave his mom the wrong impression?

Just as I was on the verge of hyperventilation, a clip of You Know How I Do by Taking Back Sunday started playing from my phone; it was Daisy.

“Hey, where are you?” she asked me.

“In my apartment,” I said with an edge to my voice.

“What’s wrong?” she sounded concerned.

“Halvo invited me over to meet his mom and sister and I don’t know what to wear.”

Daisy laughed.

“This isn’t funny! What if she doesn’t like me?”

“Oh, Momma Halvorsen? She’s the sweetest person out there. She’s like a second mother to me. She’ll love you, regardless of what you wear, hun.” That calmed me down a bit, but I was still nervous. “Look,” she said, as if she could read my mind. “I’ll be over in five minutes. I’ll help you pick out your outfit if it really means that much to you.”

“Thanks, Zee.”

Five minutes later, Daisy zipped through my door with a makeup case and a pair of navy blue Converse high tops. She sat me down on the bed and proceeded to raid my closet. She pulled out a pair of dark washed skinny jeans and threw them at me.

“Ouch!”

“…sorry.” she laughed. She looked through all of my shirts and made a face. “Do you only wear graphic tees and button ups?”

“…yes?” I said in a small voice. Daisy rolled her eyes.

She put a finger on her chin for a couple of seconds before her eyes lit up. “I’ll be right back.” She ran out of my apartment, leaving me very confused.

Literally two seconds later, she came back with a navy blue top in her hands. “Wear this.” She held it up to show a dressy blouse. It had a smocked neckline and finished with an elastic hem. The sleeves were banded with a pretty flower design on it.

“See? This way, you can be laid back, comfortable in your own skin, yet still look classy and presentable. Momma Halvorsen will love you.” Daisy reassured me.

I sighed. “Whatever you say, Dais.”

“Look, just go take a shower, put the clothes on, and then come over so I can do your makeup and hair.” I nodded and she got up to leave.

Twenty minutes later, I was sitting in Daisy’s bathroom. Daisy was curling my hair with a huge curling iron. I fidgeted with the hem of her shirt and she poked me.

“Hey! That was a $36 shirt from Forever 21! It’s my favorite shirt, and if you ruin it, the least of your worries will be Momma Halvorsen not liking you.” I dropped my fingers and she resumed to curl my hair.

After she finished, she pulled all of my hair into a high ponytail and put on my makeup; a bit of eyeliner, a bit of mascara, and a bit of blush. Not too much, she said.

“You don’t want to cake your face with makeup. Ever. Clogs the pores,” she made a face and I laughed.

“Alright, are you done yet?” I asked, standing up.

“Not quite.” She pulled out a box of jewelery and sifted through it before pulling out a pair of huge silver hoops, a long gold necklace that overlapped with beads in it, and several bangles. “Put these on,” she commanded and I did so.

“Now?” I asked, the butterflies returning at the thought that I’d have to leave to my doom.

She gave me a once-over, twirled me around, and nodded with an accomplished smile on her face.

“Knock ‘em dead.” she winked. “Wait, no, not literally. I TAKE THAT BACK!” she screamed and I laughed, despite the growing butterflies.

“Bye, Dais. Wish me luck.” I waved goodbye.

“Luck!” she smiled and waved back.

I opened the door the same time Eric opened mine, “Jeez I’ve been yelling for name forever!” Eric said laughing and looking me up and down, “Wow babe, you look great.” He closed the small space between us and kissed me. “You taste like lemonade.” He pulled away and I got a look at what he was wearing; a pair of black skinny jeans, paired with a white v-neck t-shirt and a white button up and his beat up vans.

“Thanks, you look really good too. And you taste like Doritos.” He blushed.

“Yeah I raided your cupboards while I waited for you, sorry.” I mumbled.

“It’s cool, I like it.” I heard the door pop open behind me.

“Sorry guys, but I was watching you… I just wanted to say you look really hot today Eric. Work it.” She snapped her fingers and closed the door.

“I know you’re still watching!” Halvo shouted and she laughed from behind the door. “I hate her.” He mumbled.

“YOU LOVE ME! I’M YOUR BEST FRANNNN!” She shouted and I giggled.

“DAMN!” I heard John’s voice from the end of the hallway. “YOU OWN THAT PONYTAIL, GIRL! WORK. DAT. UP. DO.” He shouted as he walked over and Daisy swung the door open.

“THE BACK OF YO HEAD IS RIDICULOUS! CAN I GET CHO NUMBA?”

“So what’s your name Delicate?” I asked as I pushed Eric’s hair out of his face. He smiled and said,

“You got a beautiful face. What you use on that face? You use Neutrogena? You using Neutrogena on that face? Cause it looks like Neutrogena. Is that Neutrogena? Cause that’s a pretty ass face girl.” We all started laughing really loud until the lady at the end of the hall poked her head out and told us to shut up.

“We should get going anyways.” Eric said as he slightly glared down the hallway. Fifteen minutes later we were waiting outside of Olive Garden for his mom and sister. I shivered from the cold and Eric wrapped his arms around me. “I would have a jacket of some drunk chick hadn’t lost it.”

“What a bitch.” I mumbled into his chest and kissed his collar bone. He held his breath and let it on a few seconds later.

“Tease.” He mumbled. “They’re here.” I took a step away from him and watched the two women head our way. “Hey mom, Dana, this is my girlfriend Alyssa.” He said motioning his hand my way. His sister squeaked and pulled me into a hug.

“Oh my God I have been waiting to meet you!” She let me go and turned to Halvo and pinched him in the same spot I do.

“Oh fuck, what was that for Dana?”

“You said she was pretty, you didn’t say she was beautiful.” Meanwhile his mom just stared at me. I stared at my feet awkwardly not knowing what to say.

“Halvorsen, party of four,” someone announced through the speakers.

“Oh I didn’t even notice the thing was blinking.” Eric said I peeked up at him and he was watching his mom with a confused look. “Ready Mom?” she nodded and headed towards the door. I followed behind Eric’s sister, dragging my feet along when Eric pulled me back. “I’m sorry Babe, I don’t know what’s up with her.” He kissed the top of my head. “Just be yourself okay?” I nodded and laced my fingers with his and continued to walk. We slide into a large booth that could easily fit three more people. I pulled at my phone and quickly texted Daisy.

‘She hates me.’

‘what? no she doesn’t stop being a baby’

‘she hasn’t said a word to me. She stared at me like she wanted to kill me’

‘where r u guys?’

‘olive garden’

She stopped texting back and I pouted at my phone. A waitress came to order our drinks. “How about we all get wine?” Dana suggested and we all agreed.

“I’m going to have to see your I.D.” the waitress snapped at me. I arched my eyebrow and looked at Eric who shrugged. I quickly pulled out my I.D. and showed her. “Is this real?”

“Yeah?” I said confused she huffed and turned away.

“That was weird.” Eric said, holding out the I.D. “Do you know her?”

“No.” I mumbled, I guess today was just not my day to make new friends. The waitress came back and gently set everyone’s glasses down but slammed mine down. She began to pour the wine in everyone’s glass and when she got to be she ‘accidentally’ tipped the bottom to far and it poured all over me. I instantly stood up at her and she giggled.

“Oh my God, I am so sorry.” She said in a fake tone. I tossed the napkin that was on my lap on the table and stormed past her and to the bathroom. I heard yelling from behind me that sounded like Daisy but I was probably so pissed I was hearing things. “Daisy is going to kill me.” I mumbled to myself as I stared at the stain through the mirror.

“No, I’m not, I saw everything.” I jumped at Daisy’s voice.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came here to help you out. I’m going to fuck that girl up after her shift.” She sighed and pouted at her shirt.

“I’m sorry, I’ll buy you a new one.” When we both calmed down we headed back towards the table, where John was now seated next to Eric’s mom. He pouted at me then smiled. I rolled my eyes at him and took my seat next to Eric.

“I’m proud of you, you handled that very well. I would’ve socked her.” Eric’s mom said. Everyone laughed and I smiled widely. She talked to me! She finally talked to me.

“Thanks, I wanted too.” I said laughing nervously. From then on our dinner went more smoothly we all talked and joked as we ate our salads and breadsticks. I laughed at Daisy who inhaled her cheese ravioli like she hasn’t eaten in years. “Do you never eat without getting something on your face?” I asked laughed as John wiped her face for her.

“Shut up, you. Why are you scratching your boobs?”

“The shirt is really itchy now. Don’t judge me.”

“I have a shirt in my car you can borrow.” John suggested.

“Please? I’m going crazy.” He got up and left the restaurant.

“Why don’t you just use mine? I’m wearing two.” Eric asked.

“Don’t you dare take that off, Eric, you look hot bro.” Daisy said, well half shouted. When John got back I quickly went to the bathroom and changed. It clung to my body perfectly and I glared at it.

“Stupid skinny ass John.”  When I got back everyone had finished eating except for me so I quickly ate. The waitress from before came and slipped the bill to Eric. He handed everyone their separate bills.

“Call me for a good time.” Eric said as he held up a piece of paper that was clipped to our receipt. “Must be for John.”

“Naw, man she wasn’t messing with Alyssa for no reason.” John said waving his hand declining the phone number. I took it out of Eric’s hand.

“Let’s just let my assistant handle this.” I said handing it to Daisy.

“Gladly.” She ripped the paper in fours and tossed it on her plate. Eric and John laughed. “I got yo back gurl.” I giggled. “What are you two up to next?”

“Band practice I think…” I said as I watched Eric’s mom look at Daisy’s shirt and mumbling to Dana that she could get the stain out.

“No way! I want to come! I haven’t heard you guys in forever. Can I come? Can I? Can I come?” she pouted at Eric. “Please.”

“Sure, I guess if you are gonna cry about it.” She clapped happily and we all laughed at her. I wiggled into Eric’s side while we waited for the waitress to come back. “Tired, Babe?” I shook my head no and looked up at him.

“You do look pretty hot in white.” I mumbled in his ear and smiled as I watched his face turn different shades of red. “You’re so awkward.” I giggled and he squeezed my sides and glared at me.

“Alright we’ll see you kids at home.” Eric’s mom said as we all slide out of the booth.

-*-

“TOOK YOU GUYS LONG ENOUGH!” Nick shouted from Eric’s porch. He had a guitar case in his hands. “Justin locked me out!” I laughed at him and he pointed at me, “Shut up, you!” I followed the two into the room they were going to practice in. “Have you met Andrew?” Nick asked when we walked in motioning to the guy behind the drums who waved at me.

“Hi, I’m Alyssa.” He waved again and smiled widely. Eric tossed me a blanket.

“It gets really cold in here. I think Daisy and John are coming so we’ll start when they get here.” He flopped on the couch with his bass and patted the stop next to him. I obeyed and rested my chin on his shoulder while I watched him tune his Bass.

“You guys are so cute together.” Justin said in a gay voice.

“Thanks, we try.” I said giggling. When Daisy walked into the room she sat to my left and whispered, “Don’t let John sit by me,” in my ear. I arched my eyebrow but moved closer to her so I could share the blanket with her. John walked in and took a seat to my right. I felt awkward in the middle of them.

“Any requests?” Eric asked, mostly to Daisy.

“Annabelle and… Fear of Flying! Oh and um… Just Another One.” she nodded excited and they began playing. “You’re going to love them.” she said to me and she wasn’t lying they were amazing.

“Whoa, that was amazing!” I shouted when they finished playing and they laughed at me. “New favorite band. No lie.”

“Hey bro, Tim’s on the phone.” Dana said walking in with the telephone.

“Hello?” He said and put the phone on speaker.

“Roll call, who’s there?”

“Nick!”

“Justin.”

“Anddrreewww!”

“John.”

“Daisy and Alyssa.”

“Okay good, then this is the last call I have to make. I got The Maine and Rocket on a short tour with This Century. We leave the day after Thanksgiving and come back the Monday before Christmas; like I said a short tour.” I sighed, well this was bound to happen… I guess.

I took a picture of a girl I once knew
I kept it here incase I’d run into you
The look on your face could light up a
Room but instead you left

-a rocket to the moon

Chapter by Krystal