Girl at the Rock Show

The whole night, well rest of the night, I tossed and turned in my bed just thinking about the concert and Ryan and Brian and everything. Gah! Why did they both have to be so wonderful and so horrible for me all at the same time. Well, Ryan was pretty wonderful for me all the time. He was cute, funny, respectful, nice, considerate…everything I was looking for in a guy. Then there was Brian, Who was down right sex with legs. Everything I was craving from a guy. Damn my dirty teenage mind…

"Ali, Wake up!" Becca laughed, running into the room and jumping on my bed like she did most everyday. I groaned, trying to push her off me. "No, You have to get up. I have amazing news!" I sighed, poking my head out from under the covers.

"And what would this great news be?" I asked, staring at her happy expression. She smiled, clapping her hands happily.

"We're going to another concert tonight!" I stared at her like she was nuts. "What?" She asked. "Don't you want to go to another concert?" I groaned, shifting under her so that I was laying on my back.

"Becks, We just went to a concert last night. Don't you think we should stay home and relax?" I asked. She shook her head no like an excited 4 year old. "You don't want to stay home and just play like guitar hero?"

"No! I don't want to play a guitar video game, I want to see someone famous play guitar instead!" She whined. "Please, Ali. Go with me."

"Where and what concert and how are we getting in?" I asked, defeated.

"9:30 club, Downtown DC, Shinedown." She replied.

"Shinedown? I've never really heard of them." I told her honestly. She gasped, putting her hands over her mouth like I had just said that puppies cause cancer. "Oh come on, You know that I don't know a lot of bands. I'm learning."

"They are this amazing band and we have to go." She told me. I groaned, shaking my head. I hated Washington DC. It was crime filled and just grody… "DC isn't as grody as you think that it is." She sighed. My eyes widened, was she in my head? She rolled her eyes. "Come on, We have nothing else to do! It's winter break!"

"How are we getting in? Did you get tickets?"

"Better." She smiled. "I got us on their VIP list!" She laughed.

"How the hell did you manage that?" Her eyes moved away from mine and she moved off me. "How?"

"Doesn't matter. All that matters is that I got on the list and then we get to hang out on their tour bus!" I gasped, sitting up.

"Rebecca! How did you manage all that?" I demanded. "Who got you on the VIP list?" She groaned and looked down to her hands shyly.

"Jimmy…" She mumbled quietly. I was used to her mumbling though, so I totally heard her. My eyes widened.

"Jimmy as in Jimmy Sullivan as in The Rev?!" I asked, outraged. "How did you get him to do that? You only met him last night!" She looked at me with a certain rage in her eyes.

"It doesn't matter if I met him last night! We have a connection!" I laughed, shaking my head as I got out of the bed and stretched.

"Ha, Yeah right. Becca, He has a fiancé. Meaning he's marrying another girl that isn't you. Sorry to break it to you but you'll never be able to be with him." I told her, trying to let her down easy, but not succeeding. She sighed, shaking her head. I thought that I saw tears in her eyes, but that couldn't be. Becca never cried. "Becca, Please understand that I'm just looking out for you." I told her gently. "He's a rockstar in his late 20's. You're an 18 year old college student. I'm sorry, but it would never work." Becca shook her head, getting off the bed and walking towards the door. "Becca wait! I'm sorry!"

"No, Ali. You're not. If you were, you would be supportive of me but you're not. Have fun with guitar hero." She sighed, walking out of the room. I groaned, sitting back down on my bed. I can't believe I had just said all that to her. I didn't mean any of it, sort of. I was more taking my frustrations from the night before out on her. I felt like the worst friend in the whole entire world. I went over to my nightstand and got my phone. I was shocked to see that I had so many text messages. Tons were from Becca, trying to see if I was awake. I'm pretty sure she knew that now. A few were from Alana, Threatening to tell mom how late I was last night. I'd take care of her later. I had about 2 text messages from Ryan, Making sure that I had his number right and then telling me how great of a time he had last night. He's sweet. I made a mental note to call him later. The last text caught me completely off guard. Not because of who it was, mainly wondering how the hell he got my number…

Ali, It's Brian. I need to talk to you. Please call me back. I'm sorry about last night. I was drunk and stupid and shouldn't have done what I did. Forgive me.

I was shocked. No doubt, Becca had given someone my number. I just never expected to see Synyster Gates texting my phone. If he wasn't such a huge jackass, I would be screaming like a fan girl. I sighed, getting out of the bed and walking into my bathroom to take a shower. I wish I had taken a shower last night, seeing as my hair was now stuck up in all crazy different directions from me sweating so much at the concert. If anyone would have physically seen me now, they would think I had major sex hair. Mmm…Sex…I could go for some of that. I shook my head of the thought of sex and how I had never actually had it before, despite of the rumors that went around my high school senior year. No, I didn't have sex with Damien. We felt that we didn't need it. We loved each other enough. I sighed, standing in the shower just thinking of Damien. He really was the love of my life. He wanted me to be happy with everything. When I told him I wanted to go to college to be a fashion designer or a stylist, he was completely supportive. The more I thought about him, The more I knew he wanted me to be happy. I just didn't think I could be happy without him. He was my happiness. My happiness was taken away that horrible night.

"Ali! You awake?" My mother called from outside of the bathroom door. I rolled my eyes as I washed my hair.

"Of course I am mom. I wouldn't be in the shower if I wasn't." I told her. She laughed lightly.

"When you're dressed, Come downstairs for breakfast. I want to hear all about the concert." I froze. Shit, I didn't expect to have to tell her about what happened. What would I tell her? Went to the concert, Got invited back by two rock stars, hit it off with one, made out with the other, then got in a fight with the one I kissed and then went on a date with the one I hit it off with? Wait, A date…Was it a date? I guess it was. Sure did feel like a date. I wouldn't mind if it was. He's so sweet. "That ok, Ali?"

"Uh, Yeah! Ok!" I called to her. Fuck, I didn't realize she was still outside the door. I quickly finished up my shower and wrapped the towel around my body after getting most of the water out of my hair. I combed out the knots in my hair and put it up into a messy bun on top of my head. I put on a light coat of eyeliner and some mascara so I wouldn't look completely scary. I took off the towel and put on my robe. I walked out of the room and put on some jeans and a rolling stones t-shirt. After I was dressed, I took a deep breath. Here we go. I walked down the stairs from my room and towards the dining room. I could hear Alana and my mom talking. No doubt that Kendall was in there as well. I took another deep breath as I rounded the corner into the dining room.

"Aunt Ali!" Kendall yelled, getting out of her seat and running towards me. I smiled, picking her up as I walked her back to her seat. "Where were you?" She asked as I sat her down and went to my seat.

"Uh, In my room?" I laughed.

"You didn't read me my story last night." She pouted. I smiled lightly and nodded, eating a piece of bacon.

"Sorry, Kiddo. I was at a concert last night." I told her.

"What's a concert?" She asked, looking to me curiously. Alana smiled, looking to me with an expectant look.

"It's a big group of people who come to listen to really fun music. It's fun. I'll take you someday." I told her, earning a light groan from my sister.

"When I'm 5?!" She asked expectantly.

"More like when you're 55." Alana told her young daughter.

"Oh come on, Alana. You were 15 when you went to your first concert. We all know how that day changed your life." I smirked at her. She sent me the most evil glare that I have ever seen.

"What have I told you about ever mentioning that day?" She growled. I shrugged, continuing to eat my breakfast. "I told you not to! That's what! Especially when someone is in this room!" She yelled.

"Who, Mommy?" Kendall asked curiously. I smiled, looking to my niece. She always said what I couldn't say and I loved it. Alana sighed, shaking her head.

"No one, Honey. I'm going to take a shower." Alana replied, standing up and going off towards her room. My mother shook her head, sipping her coffee.

"We couldn't have one nice breakfast, could we Ali?" I shook my head. "Kendall, Are you done?" She asked her granddaughter. Kendall nodded her head, wiping her face and hands with the wet nap mom had handed her. She hated being sticky. So did I. What was a good part of being sticky? Nothing. My mom stood up and took her out of her high chair. "Go play with your toys until your mommy's ready to get you dressed." Kendall nodded, running off towards her play room. Oh shit, Alone with my mother. This wasn't going to end well. Mom sat back down, started the very uncomfortable silence. The only things you could hear were forks scraping the plates as we ate. This silence was killing me. She wanted to talk about last night, I knew that. She just couldn't figure out how to start the conversation. "Why is your truck in the driveway and not in the garage?" She asked finally, kinda scaring me. I jolted in the shock of her voice lightly.

"Oh, uh, I was just so tired last night that I was running on autopilot." I replied. There wasn't really a reason I hadn't put my car in the garage. I just kinda forgot. My mother nodded her head lightly.

"What time did you get home?" She asked, sipping her coffee. I gulped nervously. I hadn't expected her to ask that question.

"Not too late," I replied, avoiding eye contact.

"So, Later than midnight. Midnight is your curfew, you do know that right?" I nodded sheepishly. Shit, I was in trouble now. "Well, You're 18 now. I can't rightly punish you. Seeing as you're an adult now. But as long as you live under my roof, you will obey my rules. Understand?" Again, I nodded obediently. "Now, Where is Adrian? She should be up by now."

"Adrian asked me to take her back to her house last night." I replied. Mom stared at me in shock. "I have no idea why, but she did. I dropped her off and she seemed to be happy. So, I don't know what's going on."

"Her father was in jail for raping her and her mother. Why would she ever go back there?!" She yelled angrily. I sat back in my chair, surprised by her outburst.

"I don't know."

"What about her pets? Everything she owns is still here." My eyes widened and I shot up out of my chair. I ran to the basement door, throwing it open before running down the stairs to her room. Inside, Duncan and Chi Chi were going nuts. I rushed over to Duncan's cage and took him out, letting him run around on the bed. Chi Chi was a different story. She hid in the corner, chittering away at me. That damn thing hated me.

"Chi Chi, I have to change your food and everything. You need to get out of the cage." I tried to reason with her, even though I knew she wouldn't be able to understand me. I reached in and grabbed her, wincing and cursing as she bit me. I put her in her little hamster ball and let her run around on the floor. I sighed, going to clean out both of their cages and refill their food and water. I bent down and picked up Chi Chi's ball, practically dumping her back into the cage. She quickly climbed up the side and went into her little pouch to hide. Then it was time to put Duncan back. I turned around to the bed to see he was no where to be seen. "Duncan?" I called, looking everywhere in the room. That stupid rodent was gone. "Duncan?" I called again, wondering where the hell he had gone.

"ALI!!!!!" I heard my sister scream from upstairs. I looked towards the door, seeing that it was slightly open.

"Oh shit," I groaned, running out of the room and up the stairs. Alana stood on the couch, holding a giggling Kendall in her arms.

"Ali you get that stupid rat away from my daughter!" She screamed. I looked down on the floor to see Duncan running around Kendall's dolls. I laughed and walked over, picking him up.

"Alana, He wasn't going to hurt anything. He's completely harmless." I told her, petting him.

"I don't care. He's disgusting. I don't want him around my daughter." She sneered.

"Aunt Ali, can I play with him?" Kendall giggled. Alana gasped, holding the girl away.

"Child, Have you lost your mind?! You could get rabies from that thing!" I rolled my eyes.

"She would not. What part of completely harmless did you not understand? He's just a big baby!" I groaned. I held Duncan up to my face and smiled at him. "Aren't you? You're just a big baby." Alana rolled her eyes, getting off the couch.

"Get that thing out of here now!" She demanded. I laughed and walked out of the room, back down to Adrian's room. I put Duncan in his cage and looked around her room. Everything she owned really was here. Ever since her parents had kicked her out 2 years ago, she'd moved in here. I had no idea why she would want to go back there, but I had to find out. I walked out of her room and went upstairs, slipping on some chucks and grabbing my keys.

"Where are you going?" Mom asked, seeing me putting my shoes on.

"Out." I told her bluntly.

"When will you be back?" She asked, annoyingly. I rolled my eyes and stood up.

"I'll be back whenever I come back. Got it?" I snapped, taking my keys and walking towards the door.

"Ya know what? If you're not back by midnight, don't even bother coming back! I'm sick of this Ali!" She screamed at me. I waved her off and went out to my truck. She had threatened me with that so many times, it wasn't funny anymore. I got into my truck and started off towards Adrian's house. I just wish I had known what I would find.

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I pulled up to Adrian's family house about 20 minutes later. I was shocked to see the whole outside of the house decorated with all kinds of beautiful flowers. Cars lined the street and the driveway, filling it completely. What the hell was going on? I parked my car on the side of the road and walked across the street to the house. Many people were out on the lawn chatting with each other, dressed very nicely. They, of course, all stared at me with disgust. I must have stuck out like a sore thumb in my jeans and band t-shirts among the masses of dressed up people. I actually was happy for all the people. I just had to make sure I didn't run into any of Adrian's family that knew me. If I had been spotted by her parents or her brothers or sisters, I would have been screwed. I walked towards the front door, but stopped and changed my course when I saw Adrian's two brothers Max and Andy standing outside, greeting people in. I sighed, I guess I'd have to do this the hard way.

I walked around the side of the house where no one was, thankfully. I went through the bushes to the ivy vine gate that went up the side of the house right outside of Adrian's window. I climbed up as best I could, this was so much easier 2 years ago when we were sneaking her out of the house. I never thought in a million years that I would ever have to sneak back in. I pulled myself up onto the balcony and looked into the window. Adrian's three sisters were all giggling and talking a mile a minute. Well, for triplets, that's not that uncommon. Especially for them. I looked around the room and couldn't find Adrian. Odd. Suddenly, her sisters left the room. Now was my chance. I opened up the door and walked into her room. "Adrian? You in here?" I called out. I heard a gasp from the bathroom, figuring she was in there.

"Ali?" She called out.

"Yeah, It's me. What the hell is going on here? Did someone die or something? There are a lot of people here." I laughed, sitting down in one of the most uncomfortable chairs of my life.

"Not exactly," I heard her sigh.

"Adrian, What is going on? My mom has been asking about you all morning. Duncan and Chi Chi were going nuts this morning. That damn flying rat bit me!" I heard Adrian sniffle from inside the bathroom. "Adrian?"

"You have to take care of them for me." I heard her cry.

"What? Why? Adrian, This is really scaring me. What's going on?" I asked, standing up. The door to the bathroom opened and Adrian stepped out. I gasped, putting my hands over my mouth. "Oh my god!" Adrian sighed, looking down to the wedding dress that practically engulfed her body. "What the fuck?! You're getting married?! Since when?! To Who?!" I rambled, completely shocked beyond all belief.

"It's an arranged marriage that my family has had set up since before I was born." She sighed. "His name is Anthony Dipaulo. He's completely disgusting and I want nothing to do with him. But, I have no choice."

"Yes you do! You don't live here anymore! You moved out! You left! Lets leave now!" She shook her head.

"No, I've run from this for far too long. I just need to do this." I shook my head, not believing this was happening.

"What about last night? The concert? Johnny?" She scoffed a laughed and walked over to the window to look out to the wedding set up below in the backyard.

"He only wanted me for a quick fuck." She sighed.

"Wait, You had sex with him?" I gasped. She nodded sadly. "Oh wow. I miss a lot when I'm off with other guys." Adrian rolled her eyes.

"He made me realize that I'll never be able to get a guy on my own who only wants to use me. So, I decided to go through with the marriage." She sighed.

"What about your life? You're just going to give up to be a mindless zombie like the rest of your family?"

"What other choice do I have, Ali?!" She snapped. "I'm not going to ever find someone who's going to really love me for me! So why the fuck not marry some complete stranger?!"

"Because he's a fucking stranger!" She shook her head and looked back out of the window.

"Sell everything I have at your house. I don't want any of it back. Sell Duncan and Chi Chi too. They deserve a better life than I can give them."

"Adrian…Don't do this…" I tried to plead her. She wasn't having it.

"I'm getting married in ten minutes. You should probably go before my parents find you." She said monotonously. At this point, I was angry. She was completely abandoning all of us just to join some prissy cultish bastards.

"I don't give a fuck if your family finds me. I thought we were better friends than that. I never thought you would ever ditch me for those stuck up bitches." I spat at her.

"It was only a matter of time. You have no use to me." I gasped, feeling like she had stabbed a knife through my back. Tears filled my eyes out of anger and I couldn't stand to look at her. She wasn't my Adrian anymore. She was a brainwashed zombie clone. I hate zombies. I had to get out.

"I hope you have a horrible life with your zombie husband and zombie life. Don't come crying to me when they all turn their backs on you too." I spat, rushing towards her door. I threw it open to see her three sisters glaring at me. "Don't even fucking bother you bimbos. I was just leaving." I groaned, pushing past them and running down the stairs. Her mother spotted me and gasped. "Fuck off bitch!" I yelled at her before running to the door. Her two behemoth brothers stepped in front of my way. "Get the fuck away from me. I'm getting out of here you monsters." They smirked and stepped aside. "Brain dead assholes." I muttered, walking past them and pushing through every person who got in my way. I got to my car and stared at the house. "Goodbye Adrian. Good riddance." I muttered before speeding off down the road to Becca's house. I needed a friend and at this point, I had to make sure that I still had one.

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I pulled up to Becca's house and practically jumped out of the car. I didn't even bother turning off the truck. I ran up to the door and banged heavily. I prayed that Becca would open the door and shoot down my superstitions that had came to my mind while I was driving over. Sadly, Her mother Karen opened the door.

"Ali, hi. How are you, Honey?" She smiled as she greeted me. I adored Karen. She was basically like another one of Becca and I's best friends. She wasn't like a typical mom. She let us do whatever we wanted as long as it wasn't illegal and we approved it with her.

"Hi Karen. I'm fine. Where is Becca?" I asked, a bit out of breath.

"You just missed her." She replied. I groaned, running my hands through my hair.

"Did she tell you where she went?"

"Yeah, She went down to DC to go see her friend's concert." I rolled my eyes and nodded. "I'm surprised that you didn't go with her." She laughed. I smiled politely and shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, I came to tell her that I changed my mind and wanted to go with her." I lied. Great, Now I had to go.

"Oh that's a shame! Well if you leave now, you'll be able to catch her at the venue." I nodded.

"Thanks Karen, I'll do that. Bye!" I called as I ran back to my car. I sighed heavily as I texted my mother, telling her where I was going. I was going to get chewed out for it, but I had to find my best friend. Besides, she didn't want me back home anyway.

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Over and hour later sitting through horrendous DC traffic, I was finally at the venue. I was lucky enough to find a parking spot right behind Shinedown's bus. I checked over my make-up and outfit in the reflection of my car and deemed myself decent. I then walked over to the will call booth to see if Becca had left a ticket for me. "Hi, I'm here to pick up a ticket. It should be under Becca Harrison." I told the lady behind the window. She looked through all the envelopes that had tickets inside them.

"Sorry dear, I'm not finding that name." She replied. I groaned, shaking my head. "Are you on a VIP list?" I remembered that Becca had told us we had gotten on Shinedown's list.

"Yes!" I replied. She smiled and nodded.

"Go to the window on the other side of this wall." She replied, pointing down the street a bit. I looked and saw that other window.

"Thanks so much!" I smiled before walking over to the window. "I'm here to pick up a ticket. I'm in Shinedown's VIP list. It would be under Becca Harrison." I told the other women. She looked at me oddly.

"You're not Becca, are you?" I sighed and shook my head.

"No, She's my best friend. I was supposed to come with her tonight but we got in a fight and now I have to find her." I told her. She nodded understandingly.

"Would your name happen to be Ali?" She asked. My eyes widened.

"Yes! I'm Ali!" She smiled and put the ticket through the slot.

"She rambled on and on about you and told us to give it to you if you happened to show up." I smiled and took the ticket. She still loved me. "Go on in, Shinedown is about to come on. I would guess she would either be in the pit or up in the balcony." I nodded and thanked the women immensely. I walked into the building, got my stamps on my hand so I couldn't get alcohol and ran into the venue. It was quite small and dark. The whole place was lit up with what looked like Christmas lights. I looked around the pit and couldn't find her. I groaned, looking all over.

"Bring on Shinedown!" I heard a familiar voice shout above me. I looked up to see Becca practically hanging off the balcony to shout at the stage. I smirked and ran back through the doors I had come through and went up the stairs to the balcony. It was packed. No room anywhere among the railings.

"Becca!" I shouted out. She perked her head up and looked right at me.

"Ali?" I smiled and pushed my way through to her. "What are you doing here? I thought you didn't want to come because I was stupid for thinking that Jimmy would do anything nice for me." I rolled my eyes.

"I figured weirder things have happened, like Adrian getting married to a guy her parents picked for her today." Becca's eyes widened.

"She what?!" I nodded.

"Last night, after I dropped you off, she asked if I could take her back to her house. It was totally weird, but I did it anyway. I went home and then we had the whole fiasco earlier today." I told her as she nodded, listening. "Well, I decided to go figure out what the fuck was going on. I pulled up to the house and it was decorated really fancy and all her parents zombie prissy bitch people were everywhere. The two buffoons were guarding the door, so I had to climb up the ivy gate. I got up there and walked into her room where she was standing in a wedding dress!" Becca gasped.

"She was actually wearing a dress and it wasn't black?!" I nodded.

"Yeah! It was actually a really pretty dress. Anyway, She told me that last night; she fucked Johnny." Becca, again, gasped in shock. "I know. She said he only wanted her for a quick fuck. She then realized that she would never get a guy that would actually care for her and decided to marry this douche bag she had never met before." Becca sighed, shaking her head. "I have to sell all of her stuff and even Duncan and Chi Chi."

"I'll take Chi Chi!" Becca yelled, raising her hand like she was a kid in kindergarten.

"I'll probably take care of Duncan. He's not that bad and he pisses off my sister. So, Yeah." Becca shook her head again.

"That really sucks. She was our best friend. I can't believe she would just leave us like this."

"I can. I always knew she wouldn't stick with us for too long. She's not like us." Becca nodded.

"Yeah, We're way cooler." Becca laughed. I smiled and nodded my head. "I'm sorry for blowing up at you."

"I'm sorry for crushing your dreams." I replied. She smiled and hugged me tightly. Just then, a girl tapped us on the shoulder.

"Ali and Becca?" We nodded, looking at her oddly. "These are for you. Courteous of Shinedown for being on their VIP list. You'll get to meet them later." She smiled, handing us 2 drinks. We smiled and thanked her. I smiled, holding up my drink to Becca.

"To Shinedown." I toasted.

"To a kickass concert." She toasted back. We clinked our glasses together and downed the drinks. It tasted like plain coca-cola. So, we ordered more. Oh if only I knew what was in those drinks…