Just Like You

For once, I don’t see Oli at all. Since he was playing second today and I was busy entertaining Nate and Sean, I didn’t get to see him then. Everywhere I went, I introduced my friends and they told me that Oli was looking for me.

It was like two ships passing in the night. Except maybe it’s more like two sweaty singers pushing their way through crowds of fans who want pictures, autographs, talk to their friends via cell phone, and to just talk. Every time we shook off one crowd, we’d finally get to my friend and they’d tell me that Oli was just there.

Apparently Oli is better at avoiding fans than I am… Or maybe Nate just needs to shrink two feet…

When seven rolls around, we head for the main stage, where no fans can harass us. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fans. I wouldn’t be anyone without the fans. But today I just wanted to hang out with my cousin and not share him with anyone. Maybe that’s selfish, but I don’t really care right now.

We catch the last of MCS’s set and Nate and Justin start talking as I warm up with my band. We jump around and scream our heads off, getting returning screams from the crowd. Everyone’s grinning like fools because we all know this is going to be the best set of the night. I check with my band to make sure they know the song as my intro starts.

Nate and Sean roll their eyes at the familiar sound. We bounce around the stage, getting the crowd pumped up. I rap along to the familiar lyrics and Nate and Sean decide to surprise me.

“She wants to touch me, whoa. She wants to love me, whoa. She’ll never leave me, whoa, whoa. Don’t trust a hoe, don’t trust a hoe, cause a hoe won’t trust me.” When 3oh!3 come on stage, the crowd explodes, almost literally. Kids are almost completely covering the crowd as they crowdsurf, raising their hands in a fist and yelling the lyrics along.

We let the song go on longer than normal, all of us dancing and having fun as we sing along. Emily and I dance together, getting yells and catcalls from all the guys. We grin and wink at each other as the song stops. I bring my mic up to my mouth and grin.

“Well these idiots ruined the surprise of the night…” They protest, blaming me for playing their song, but I just glare at them until they shut up. I walk over to Nate and throw my arm around his neck, as hard as it is to reach up there.

“I’ve known this doofus for wayyyy to long. You guys think he’s cool? He’s not. He’s a total geek. Lost his virginity in college, got wasted on two beers, and thinks math is fun. Geeeeek!” The crowd laughs and Nate fake glares at me. I smile up at him, knowing he can’t stay annoyed at me when I smile like that. He huffs and puts his arm around me before talking into his own microphone.

“You guys think Quinn is this cool, super hot girl? You’re wrong. Guess who had headgear back in high school!” I gape at him before hitting him in the stomach. The air in his lungs escapes in a whoosh as he doubles over.

“Someone’s forgotten how much I can kick their ass…” I tease and Sean cuts in on our banter.

“Would you two shut up? Fighting like old married couples…” he trails off, shaking his head at us. I grin at him and pull him over to put my arm around his neck.

“You don’t mean that Seanie poo!” I kiss his cheek and he shoves me away, blushing while rolling his eyes in disgust.

“Can we just get the show on the road?” Sean says, feigning annoyance.

“Well, I usually close with this song but since these guys are already out here, I guess I’m opening with it.” I set up the song as I spin away from the two guys and over to Kayla.

“Comin’ out cha mouth with your blah, blah, blah, zip your lip like a padlock and meet me in the back with the Jack and the jukebox!” The crowd seethes, knowing the words well and knowing what’s coming next. Nate and Sean clown around for most of the song, mocking me and dancing with each other. It’s all in good fun and we’re going crazy.

They jump in for their part of Blah Blah Blah, which only amps up the crowd even more. After the song is over, they leave the stage and head over to the side stage, gulping down water as some lucky fans talk to them.

I take a swig from my own water and grin out at the crowd. I brush my hair back, the crazy wind tonight making it go everywhere and getting caught up all over. I quickly tie it up as Emily talks to the crowd, cracking jokes and grinning the whole time. The entire band is grinning. Tommy walks by and I see he’s grinning too.

The whole area is just charged with electric energy and it’s making everyone go nuts. When we launch into the next song, the crowd is still jumping up and down, singing along at the top of their lungs.

I finish Your Love is My Drug and some of the girls are starting to look a little mental. Their grins look they could split their faces…

We’ve only got one song and as Jon starts talking, to the screams of the girls who think he’s hot, I head side stage, where Sean and Nate are cooling off.

We exchange looks and grin. I motion to Kayla, who’s also in control of the backing beats that were engineered. We talk quickly and reach a conclusion in a couple of seconds.

“So, I was going to do Tik Tok, which I know you guys love since it just freaking cracked 500,000 sales on iTunes today, but since we’ve got those two studs side stage, we thought we’d do something a little different,” I wink to the crowd and the few who guess jump up and down, looking like they’re on a string or something.

The start of Starstruckk gets going and Sean jumps o stage, rapping, closely followed by Nate. I start singing Katy Perry’s crowd and smile for the millions of flashes. We jump around the stage, bumping into each other with silly grins and high fives. The whole stage is a party and I quickly invite the side stagers onto the stage, making it a real party. The security guards are pulling people out of the crowd like crazy and I start reaching for crowd surfers to pull them up on stage.

At the end of the song, Nate’s got his arm around my neck and we’re dancing together, but not like how I’d dance with someone not related.

The song ends and the lights go down. Everything is quiet for a second before screams and yells from the crowd split the air. I’m huffing, exhausted and a little winded. Nate’s smiling at me, breathing heavily also.

We start making our way off the stage and when we get some room to ourselves, he kisses the top of my head.

“Thanks for the fun. Sean and I woulda prolly ended up at a bar, getting drunk. This was so much better.” I grin up at him and wrap my arms around him in a tight hug. We hug tightly for a second before letting go.

When I drop back down on my heels, I notice Oli coming over, death in his eyes with his fists held tightly clenched. I pull away from Nate and head to Oli.

I can see he’s angry, and I can’t help but like it. I haven’t wanted to admit it, but I really don’t like this limbo he’s stuck us in. We’re not together, and we’re not single. We’re something but he refuses to put a label on us. And yet it kills me inside to think of him with someone else. And seeing how angry he is over just a hug with a cousin makes me eel like he really does care.

With all these thoughts in my minds, I wrap my arms around his neck and pull his lips down to mine. I don’t care that there are a million fans around us, or that techs are trying to break down the stage. I don’t even care about the wolf whistles from my friends.

In this moment, there is Oli and only Oli. He’s all that matters to me. But I’ve got to find a way to get him to accept us as a couple.