Status: FIN.

The Roots That Tied to My Feet

growing up

“Haley! Make sure the popcorn doesn’t burn!” Melanie yelled as she listened to the door bell to her house ring. Since the sister’s parents were out of town they had decided to hold a movie night with their closest friends.

Melanie opened the door to her house as four boys piled in, all giving her hellos as they walked into her living room. Charlotte and Chelsea walked in behind them with a new girl standing in between them. She was very petite and her black hair seemed as if it was longer than her own legs. She had light skin and baby blue eyes.

“Melanie! This is Ashley! Pat’s girlfriend!” Charlotte cooed loudly causing a blush to appear on the girl’s light cheeks.

Melanie grinned and stuck out her hand to the girl, “Hi, I’m Melanie.”

She could tell the girl was very shy, much as Pat was. Melanie felt a hand appear in the small of her back as she turned to face Ben. “This is Ben, my fiancé.”

Ashley grinned and shook both of their hands, “Nice to meet you both.”

Melanie and Ben led the group to the living room where the rest of the boys were arguing about which movie to watch—Cinderella Story or Hairspray.

“Okay dude, Hilary Duff was so hot in that movie, and so was Chad Michael Murray,” Kennedy argued. “I really don’t understand the problem here.”

Charlie laughed and sat on her boyfriend’s lap, “I’m glad we have the same taste in guys.”

Melanie watched as Ashley took a seat next to Pat on the cuddler couch and he shyly whispered in her ear; they really were adorable. She counted the people around the room—like she even needed to—to see who was missing. John.

Maybe he wouldn’t come after what had happened last night, Melanie really had no idea because he never responded to her text. Ben put his lips to Melanie’s ear and she toned back into the group’s conversation. “Garrett is talking to you,” Ben whispered softly.

“What was that Garrett?” She asked, looking at the boy whose fingers were intertwined with her sisters.

“I said John is going to be late. He was picking up a friend,” he repeated.

Melanie nodded her head and made an ‘O’ shape with her lips. About ten minutes later the boy had finally decided on watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, simply based on the fact that that ‘hottie’ Cedric was in it.

Melanie giggled as Jared squealed as the opening credits came on. Ben wrapped his arm around her waist and she rested her head on his shoulder. Since they had gotten home last night they had been somewhat quiet with one another,

She knew he was upset with John and didn’t necessarily want him over at the house after bailing him out without so much as a thank you, but John was still somewhat her friend and she wouldn’t have felt right without him there.

Melanie hopped up from her seat n the couch when she heard a knocking on the door. She walked to the entrance of the home and opened it revealing John and company.

Melanie smiled at him before looking at the girl who was next to him. She was taller than her and had naturally tanned skin. Her long dirty blonde hair was hanging low into her back in natural curls and her brown eyes were deep with beauty. The girl was naturally beautiful and Melanie envied her.

“Melanie, this is Lucy,” John smiled, gesturing to the girl.

Melanie grinned and brushed her brown hair behind her shoulder, “Hi, I’m Melanie. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too! I’ve heard so much about you,” Lucy smiled.

Melanie looked back at John before stepping out of the entry way. She grabbed John’s wrist as he walked by her and pulled him back, “Can we talk for a second?”

Lucy looked at them curiously before John told her to go ahead and got into the living room where everyone else was and Melanie presumed that everyone was already aware of the girl, just had failed to tell her about John’s new girlfriend.

Melanie and John stepped outside and stood on her patio. “What’s up?” He asked casually, as if nothing had happened.

“Last night,” she said in a no brainer tone.

John ran his hand through his hair and sighed, “Can we just forget about it?”

“No, we cannot, John,” Melanie said seriously. “Those guys could have killed you. What the hell was going on?”

“It’s not a big deal,” he replied.

“Yes it is! Was it drugs or what?”

“Jesus, no Melanie! I ran up a little bit of a bar tab, okay? I’m not on heroine or some crap,” John replied incredulously. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a hundred dollar bill. “I forgot my wallet.”

She looked at his purple and blue eye. “It wasn’t my money. It was Ben’s. You can give it to him when you apologize,” she stated simply

“I am not apologizing to him, Melanie. I called you it was his choice to come.”

“He was scared to death, John! You called me in the middle of the night asking me to come get you from a bar down town. No good boyfriend is going to let his fiancé go down town by herself at three in the morning, and it was his money so you are going to apologize,” She instructed.

“Or what?” John challenged.

She lifted her eyebrow at him, “Really John? Really?”

“Why are you making this so much bigger than it needs to be, Mel? It was just a few drinks,” he said rolling his eyes.

“John, a few drinks is getting a bit tipsy. A few drinks is not being so plastered that you’re spending over one hundred dollars that you are completely aware you do not have. I’m just really getting worried about you,” Melanie said honestly.

“I never asked you to worry about me,” he replied.

“You know that you’ll never have to either.”

John looked at her with a sadness in his eyes as he realized that she was honestly becoming concerned about his actions. “Is Ben inside?” He asked, lowering his guard to the one girl he never wanted to once again.

Melanie smiled triumphantly, “Yes, he is.”

_____

Melanie picked at her chipped nail polish as she sat in her seat in the VIP section of The House of Blues in Phoenix, Arizona. Nude colored particles fell to her feet which were clad in brown heeled boots.

She watched as the boys walked on stage and all the girls in the crowd began screaming loudly, all yelling out to each of the band members, mostly John though.

Ben grinned in his seat next to her, “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a concert before!”

“Are you serious?” Melanie laughed, shaking her head at the boy next to her.

He placed his hands on his slack clad knees and looked off the balcony at the chaos below them. “No ma’am, doesn’t look like I’m missing much though. Just a bunch of hormonal teenage girls,” he laughed.

She giggled, “Hey! I used to be one of those girls.”

The couple stopped talking as a voice over the microphone interrupted their conversation. She’s eighteen and a beauty queen. She makes the boys feel so weak.

Melanie sand aloud to the song, a big grin on her lips as she listened to the sound of her friend’s living their dreams. As their set progressed she could see their maturity even more. Their catchy tunes of songs like “The Way We Talk” had progressed into heartfelt ballads like “Into Your Arms.”

“So, John apologized to me yesterday,” Ben said over the sounds of an acoustic guitar and John’s smooth voice as he sang Whoever She Is.

“Oh yeah?” Melanie replied, intrigued, pretending as if she didn’t know.

Ben nodded his head thinking back to the previous day.

He watched as his fiancée walked into the living room once again with John on her heels; she looked beautiful. How lovely she was had still amazed him to this day—even after three years.

Melanie’s long brown hair was in natural curls and it bounced lively around her bust. Her tight shirt accented all her curves and her short shorts made her legs look as if they traveled on for miles.

She took a seat next to him on the couch and he felt her lips at his ear, “John wants to talk to you in the kitchen.”

Ben turned his eyes to where John was leaning against the door frame. He got up from his seat and quietly excused himself. He followed John into the kitchen and shut the door behind them. “What’s up man?” Ben asked casually, not letting his anger slip out.

The stunt John had pulled the night before had been ridiculous. He was mature enough to know to not spend money you don’t have and calling Melanie just because he knew she would be there was complete b-s.

John ran a hand through his messy hair. “I just wanted to say sorry about last night, bro.”

Ben nodded his head formally before sizing the boy up. He was wearing too tight of black jeans and a flannel shirt. His boots were dirty and needed a good clean; so far he wasn’t able to see why Melanie had ever wanted to be his friend.

Ben put a fake grin on his lips, “No worries man, it’s all good.”

John grinned as well and put his hand out before welcoming Ben into the ‘universal guy handshake’. Ben felt a piece of paper in John’s hand and knew it was the hundred dollar bill he owed him. As he put his fisted hand on John’s back he held him there, his mouth close enough to his ear so that he wouldn’t have to speak above a whisper. “Never call my fiancée at three in the morning again, okay?”

As John released he nodded his head understandingly, before silently leaving the kitchen.


“Oh you know, he just said sorry then paid me back. No big deal,” Ben replied.

Melanie smiled before turning her eyes back to the stage, “Good!”

She watched as John walked across the stage confidently, smirking at girls who yelled at him. She was relieved that so far ‘You Left Me’ had not made its way into the set.

“All right guys, this is going to be our last song of the night. It’s a new one off our new record that we’re recording, I hope you like it. Once again, we are The Maine! This song is called ‘Growing Up.’”

Melanie smiled in anticipation of the new song, knowing the boys had just finished it the previous day and hadn’t let her hear it yet. She grinned at John softly as his eyes found hers from the stage. He closed his eyes as he began to sing.

”Photograph, remembering the summer; It takes me back to Southern California. Where the girls would all pass on the boardwalk and laugh at our desperate attempts and our sunburned backs. We never had a chance, I remember that. And no matter what we do, we'll never lose what we had.

“Growing up won't bring us down. Yeah, growing up; it won't bring us down. Growing up won't bring us down. Growing up won't bring us down. Graduate, what's a kid to do now? Get away, yeah. We've got so much to prove. Cause it's time to move on and I start to let go, but then Wonderwall comes on the radio. I flashback to the night in your parent's yard, when we drank too much and we talked about God...

“Growing up, won't bring us down. Growing up, it won't bring us down. We're in this together, yeah, we'll make it somehow. Nothing's gonna stop us now... Growing up won’t bring us down. Photograph, oh give me something to remember…

“Growing up, won't bring us down. Growing up, it won't bring us down. We're in this together, yeah, we'll make it somehow. Nothing's gonna stop us now... Growing up won’t bring us down.”
♠ ♠ ♠
clothing;

HELLLLLLO LOVES, ITS BEEN A WHILE.
Don't hate me please, I had a really rough weekm but now Christmas break is here and I'm sure I can get three more updates up? Maybe? (;
Me and my boyfriend broke up todayyy, so you should comment me and make me feel better <3

Kerrrrrri, this is a lot of part to you for buggin my balls about updating. And it is also to every single reader, subscriber, and commenter; I love you guys.