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Sitting in a van with four pumped guys was a terrifying situation, especially if you were the driver. Josh Light, a friend of theirs, got them a gig at Recher Theater all the way in Baltimore. He was riding shotgun and giving me the directions. I had only been to the venue once before with my dad and it was a while ago. According to MapQuest, the drive was supposed to be a ten minute drive, but it turned into a thirty minute ride. Josh had to use the bathroom twice and Jack screamed about needing snacks.

We pulled up to the place. A few early birds had shown up to probably get front and center spots. I went in to tell the venue manager that we had arrived and that we were loading our stuff into the venue. He sent a few buff guys to go and help and I went to go look at the sound and light boards. I sat there a few good minutes with the techies and studied the buttons, switches, and knobs. The guys had asked me to do sound for them because I had good experience and they trusted me; that and they made of list of things they wanted done for every song. At school, whenever there was a play or event, the Fine Arts teachers would request that I operated the boards. Stage management was probably a good fall back for me.

I found Josh after I figured the board out and went with him to find out what the line up would be. The guys were second to last in playing. We found them in the back with the other bands having an animal cracker fight. Jack pelted me with a several giraffes and a hippo. Oh joy. I went over and sat on the couch, watching them. They found something they wanted to do for the rest of their lives. What about me? I never believed I'd know exactly what I'd want to be, but I was about to graduate. What was I going to do? Maybe my parents would let me keep my room in the house.

Alex broke me from my thoughts, telling me to get up so he could sit. "Are you kidding? Sit on the floor," I said, laughing. He rolled his eyes and pulled me up briefly, swinging around behind me and sitting, pulling me down onto his lap.

"Thank god you were born with an ass," he mumbled, moving my hair over my shoulder so it didn't tickle his face. I leaned back against him and picked up his hand, playing with it. It was so much bigger than mine, and rougher too, but it was warm.

"God says you're welcome," I said simply. I yawned lightly as time passed. Alex and I ended up taking a nap right there on the couch. The next thing I knew, Josh woke me up.

He gave me a small smile. "Hey, get up. They're about to go set up in five."

I smiled back at him. "Oh thanks Joshi."

"No problem. Teach me some of the control boards so I can help you."

We went out to the boards and I showed him how to work lighting. I felt it was easier for him to learn. He caught on really quickly and soon the guys were on stage setting their gear up. After doing their sound check, Zack's being the quickest, they played. They were really into this set, making it by far the best yet.

"So, this last song I'm dedicating to a girl here today." At hearing Alex's voice, I looked up from the lit up board to the stage and Josh nudged me, a smile on his face. "It's an old song, but it's called "Hit the Lights."" I think he was looking right at me. I hope he was at least.

Soon they were done and thanked the fans for coming out. They packed all of their things up and moved it to the backstage. I evacuated the seat and went with Josh and a few bouncers to put their stuff away in the van.

Alex smirked, seeing me walk back stage. He lifted me up in a sweaty hug before letting me down. "Hey babycakes. Did you like that last song?" he asked. He kissed my forehead.

"It was for me?" I asked him, getting out from his arms and getting a towel for him.

"Who else would it be for?"

Grabbing one of the provided towels, I put it around the back of his neck and pulled him down slightly. "Then I loved it." I dropped my hands to my sides and walked away. A sudden snap and contact with a towel to my rear and howling laughter made me turn around, blushing brightly. "You, you... weirdo." I stuck my tongue out him and walked away again taking his fairly heavy guitar case with me. I was popped again and again on my butt all the way to the van. Managing to put the guitar away I turned around to get popped in the stomach. "Alex, stop playing!" I said, laughing. He took my hand, lacing our fingers and we went back inside to watch the rest of the last band's set.

Josh drove on the loud and active ride back. I was cuddled with Alex on the last row. On the two rows in front of us Jack and Rian were having bubble gum blowing contests and Zack kept popping them in their faces.

We pulled up to Rian's house first around midnight and unloaded all of the equipment. Zack had suggested the idea a few weeks ago to just have one house to practice at instead of going to different ones. Since Rian had the most equipment to move, his basement was designated as the practice place.

I grabbed my little drawstring bag I used for track and got into Alex's car. My mom was the night shift nurse at the hospital and this week was her week to come in. She usually did every other week, trading off with another nurse. Alex had asked me to stay the night with him instead of being alone in my house again and I had agreed. It wasn't like he was going to do anything.

We made it to his house within minutes and up to his bedroom. His parents Peter and Isobel were already asleep by now. I went to the bathroom and changed into my old track shorts and white T-shirt. I came back and he had sweatpants in his hand and headed to the bathroom to shower. I crawled into bed and just fell asleep.

Moments like these when I stayed the night were never romantic. When I spent the night, that's what I did. I just slept. Sometimes we'd play video games or watch Comedy Central, but that was it. We didn't cuddle and stare at each other for hours or anything silly like that. We weren't lovey dovey at all, but when we were, it was special.