Hollywood ***

Brian's POV

"So who are we meeting," Johnny asked Fred Archambault, one of our Audio Engineers during a lunch.

He had invited us to lunch to meet his friend that had graciously given us all backstage passes to Cruefest. It was an awesome gift and I couldn’t wait to go. Hell, it’s Motley Fucking Crue and I was totally pumped to see them. The new album, Saints of Los Angeles, was fucking amazing now I got a chance to see them, which of course I was going to take.

"One of my Audio Engineer friends, River. She's awesome and worked with some really high name bands. And she's the one that gave me back stage passes and tickets to Cruefest," Fred said, "You guys are going to love her."

I didn't say anything. It’s been eleven years since that day that my best friend left. We were sixteen when she disappeared and now I'm fucking twenty-seven and still thinking about her. Jimmy was the only one who saw her leave and the only one who sat her dad but he won't saw a word about him. Everything someone brings it up, he glared at them and tells them to shut the fucking Hell up.

Those are his exact words too.

I really was curious as to whatever happened her. Was she happy? Was she married? Does she talk to her mom? Who the Hell is her dad? Was I ever going to have the chance to see her again? Would she talk to me?

"That's awesome," Val said, "So how did you guys meet?"

"At a coffee shop," Fred admitted, "River was standing behind me as we both looked at the menu at Starbucks and that’s basically how we met. She's just one of those girls you could really be friends with quickly."

"So who has she worked with," Zacky asked, now curious about this person.

"She worked with James Michael when he was producing the new Motley Crue album. She also worked with Nikki Sixx’s new band, Sixx: AM."

"Awesome," I said, sipping my soda, "Nice bands to work with."

“So when is she coming," Michelle asked, "I want to get my nails done before we go to Cruefest."

I rolled my eyes. She wanted to get her nails done which meant that she wanted my credit card. She's really getting on my nerves but I don't have the heart to break up with her unless she does something really bad.....like cheat on me which all the guys have been telling me she's been doing. But I won't believe it until I see it with my own eyes.

A black Shelby Mustang convertible, pulled up next to the sidewalk. The top was down and the driver was a hot blonde chick. She was blasting Papa Roach’s …To Be Loved which caused some people to stare at her funny. Yet, she just chose to ignore them, not really caring what people had to say about her. She had her hair up in one of those weird hair clip things and had aviators covering her eyes. Her lips a dark red color from her lipstick. As she got out of her car and locked it, I realized that she was wearing a black tank top with the back ripped and tied, black skin-tight jeans, and converse. Her arms were totally decked out in tattoos and various bracelets. She had several necklaces on and I could see that her nose was pierced. Hanging from her shoulder was a purse from Volcom Stone and a couple of belts hung off the hips of her jeans.

That was the epitome of the perfect Rocker chick.

We all watched her, totally interested in knowing who she was. A girl like this was rare and I wondered all about her. Michelle rolled her eyes when she looked at her. I could hear her mutter, “Freak alert.”

The mystery girl walked up to the restaurant to talk to the waiter when Fred got up and called, "Hey River!"

She turned around and smiled as she lifted up her sunglasses to look at him. She had these awesome ice blue eyes that reminded me so much of the best friend I had lost. Near the eyes and on the side of her face, she had what looked like cherry blossoms falling. It was like Kat Von D’s stars but they were cherry blossoms. As she walked towards us, Fred got up to give her a hug. Hell, how does Fred know a girl like her?

"Hey Fred-Fred Burger, what's happening," she asked as she sat down next to him.

"Not much. How's life on Cruefest," he asked back.

"Eh, same old, same old. Stuck with a bunch of guys, my boyfriend, and my friends but hey, I'm done for the rest of the tour which is awesome. Kat’s coming for this stop which will be cool to see a friend. Josie’s been fun to be around as well. This is my stop for the rest of Cruefest, “she answered, and “I can get back to work and get some time away from the guys.”

Jimmy looked at her as she placed her sunglasses on the top of her head and ordered a Mountain Dew for herself. His eyes narrowed as if he was concentrating on something really important to him. "You look so familiar," he finally said, “I swear we have met before.”

He was right: there was something that was familiar about her. Was it the eyes? Maybe. Either way, I was ninety percent positive that I have met her before but the question was where?

She looked at him and said, "You should, Sullivan. I always said you guys would get big and now look at you."

River laughed as a bit as we all stared at her confused. It was obvious that she knew something that we didn't but we should have known about her. Fred rolled his eyes and asked, "You already know them?"

She nodded, sipping her Mountain Dew. "Yup and I'm surprised that they haven't recognized me."

She started playing with one of the bracelets on her arm, more specifically a charm. It was a guitar pick that looked like one of mine. That's when it hit us because I remember giving Melody a guitar pick for one of her bracelets. I don't know why she wanted it as a charm but she'd say that it made her bracelet more awesome.

"Wait," Jimmy said, standing up, "Your last name is Romanov!"

River smirked, nodding, and said, "And what's my first name because my middle name is 'River'."

That's when we dropped our jaws as we realized that it was my long lost best friend. "No fucking way," Val said, "Melody Romanov!"

That's when she laughed that familiar laugh. The laugh that I missed hearing, even if it was forced. "Hi," she said as Liz hugged her.

"Holy crap, you changed," Johnny exclaimed, "You look so different."

He was right. The Melody I remember was scared shitless of practically everything. The Melody that sat in front of us was the exact opposite. She looked so good and happy now. She was decked out in various tattoos and looked like she, too, was living the rock star dream. This image was something I'd never expect from the Melody River Romanov I remember. The Melody I remember wouldn't have ink adorning her arms. She'd never have black nail polish covering her nails. Hell, she wouldn't dress like the way she is now in a million years.

Melody River Romanov never made me think sexual thoughts about her.

"Yeah well, life's been good now. Living with my dad has got to be the best thing that's ever happened," Mel said, "So thanks Jimmy for making me call him."

Jimmy laughed as he wrapped his arm around her, hugging her. "Aw, Mellie Bear is happy now! How is your dad?"

"He got shorter but otherwise, he's alright."

"How does anyone get shorter when they get older," Michelle asked, twirling her hair.

"My dad has ankylosing spondylitis," Melody replied.

The way she said it made it sound like it was something that she had to explain several times before. That made me just made me more curious as to the identity to her father.
I could see that she had "thirteen" written on her knuckles. A black dragon was on her inner forearm. She had a phoenix with a banner that said "Too weird to live, too rare to die" on it. She had others but I couldn't get any good looks of them. The tank top she wore hugged her curves so nicely, giving me an idea as to how nice her body had become. I shamelessly ran my eyes up and down her body.

"Oh yeah," Jimmy said, "Does he still walk with a cane?"

"No," Melody replied, “He had hip surgery awhile ago but is on medication to keep happy and not in pain all the time.”

"I forgot Jimmy was the only one to have met your dad," I said.

She glanced at me and sipped her soda. She didn't say anything to me as she adjusted one of her bracelets, giving me the hint that she didn’t want to talk to me even if I was the last person on Earth. I guess she was still upset about the whole thing all those years ago. Hell, I don't blame her. I literally told her to go away when she needed a friend.

"So I heard you say you have a boyfriend," Leana said, hinting her to tell all about this mystery boyfriend of her’s.

I should have know that if Melody looked like the way she does now; there was no way in Hell that she’d be single for long.

"Yeah,” Melody admitted, looking at her glass of Mountain Dew, “We’ve been dating for eight months and he’s awesome.”

“Who is it,” Liz inquired, “And what does he do?”

“He’s in a band,” Mel said, “I won’t tell you what his name is but you’ll meet him later tonight. Probably before Cruefest starts because me and Nikki got to do something.”

“Are you showing your dad the new tattoo,” Fred asked.

Mel smiled and nodded, “Yup. I mean, he has a portrait of me as a kid tattooed on his arm and now I got a tattoo of my dad on my back. I hope he’ll like it.”

Just as Matt was going to say something, a cell phone went off and Papa Roach’s Getting Away with Murder started playing. Mel let it play fully once before she went through her bag, hunting for her cell phone. She pulled out an iphone and answered it.

“Yeah? Oh hey, T-Bone. Um, yeah I’ll be leaving in about ten minutes and I’ll be there thirty minutes. Yeah, okay later,” she said, hanging up.

She looked at us as she pulled a twenty from her wallet that was in her back pocket and laid it on the table, “Okay, I need to leave now so if you guys are coming, now would be the best time.”

“Can I ride with you,” Jimmy asked, “I don’t want to be crowded in Matt’s SUV.”

She laughed and said, “Sure, I can take two others.”