Like a Million Lights

When we got to the first venue, I quickly got out from the bus with my camera in hand. Dirk said I could take the first day off and go exploring the venue and be friends with the other bands. Next to the bus, there was an empty space for a van and I could guess it was for This Century. On the other side of the bus, another van was already parked. I walked towards the black van to see a guy talked to another guy in front of the hood. His laminate was hung with other laminates around his belt hoop. The guy he talked to noticed me and motioned me with his eyes, so the guy that had his back on me turned around.

“Can I help you?”, he asked nicely, not even a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

“Uhm, hi. I’m Mariza, this is my first tour, I’m here with The Maine.”, I blabbered. This was my nerve habit.

His eyes widened and smiled a second later. “Well, hi, Mariza, I’m Austin Gibbs, it’s nice to meet you.”

I nodded. “Yeah, sure, it’s nice to meet you too. I just need to get to know the people in this tour.”

“Yeah, I got that.”, he chuckled. “You’re here with The Maine as…”

“I’m Dirk Mai’s assistant for the summer.”

He nodded slightly. “Of course, that’s why you have a camera in your hand.”

My eyes went down to the Nikon D40 in my hand and laughed a bit. “Yeah, it is my job to help him around taking pictures.”

“Well, do you want my picture?”, he posed with his hand on his hips and the other on the back of his head, like a model.

I laughed at him and shrugged my shoulder. “I don’t think Dirk would accept that picture.”

Then, a black van drove into the parking lot and passed by Austin and I. My eyes watched the van and I swallowed the lump in my throat as it parked next to the bus. I heard the engine stopped and the door opened. Chatter floated up from the van. “I think its This Century.”, Austin mused. “Come on, let’s say hi.”

I attempted my best to smile and followed Austin to the black van. My brother was at the back, unloading the trailer. Joel was talking with Alex when Austin and I came up to them. “Hey, guys.”

Joel noticed us and he turned his attention to Austin. “Oh, hey, Austin. Been here long?”, Joel asked and gave Austin a bro hug.

“Nah, not too long.”, they pulled away. “Long drive?”

“Yeah, my butt needs some stretching.”, he joked and they both laughed at it. I faked a laugh so Austin wouldn’t be curious on me. Joel noticed me and he narrowed his eyes on me.

“Oh yeah, Joel, this is Mariza, she’s with The Maine here.”, Austin pushed me a stepped forward and I stumbled.

“Yeah, I know. She’s Tanner’s sister.”

Austin’s eyes widened and glanced at me. “You didn’t tell me that you’re Tanner’s sister!”, he exclaimed. I shrugged and smiled sheepishly. When Tanner came from the back of the van, Austin did something that I never expected. “Yo, Tanner! You didn’t tell me you have a hot little sister!”

I could see Joel gritted his teeth and Tanner froze on his spot, like myself. But my brother was much of a better actor than I was, so he just smiled a millisecond later. “Shut up, Austin!”

Austin grinned and wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I stiffened on his embrace. Joel’s face was heating up and turned into a few different shades of red because of his anger that was boiling inside of him. “I gotta go.”, Joel muttered loud enough and turned around on his heels.

“Kay’, catch you later man.”, Austin replied with a hint of confusion on his tone. When Joel was already far enough, he sighed. “What was his problem? Did I say something wrong?”, he asked and turned his face to me.

“I-I don’t know.”
***********
I was standing on the middle of the stage with the instruments were already on their places. The doors would be opened in 30 minutes and I could hear the chanting and singing of the kids outside. The Maine was just finished their sound check and my job for today of taking their sound check pictures was done. It was my dream to be on the stage, but fate wanted me to be the person behind the stage instead.

“There you are.”, I looked to the side of the stage and saw John stood there with his plaid shirt unbuttoned, revealing his bony torso, but looked really hot.

“John, shouldn’t you be in the dressing room? Fixing your hair?”, I asked and tried to not look on his body by focusing on his face. He walked towards me with a smirk and stopped when he was next to me.

“Well, no, I’d sweat out my hair anyway, so it would be just a waste of hairspray.”, he chuckled at the end. We stood there in silence with our eyes front to the empty venue or the doors that would be opened soon. “Mariza, I’m really sorry for what happened earlier in the bus.”, he spoke up, mentioning the brushed-up-against-each-other thing.

My cheeks burned to the memory and looked up at him. His bright green eyes were like sending laser beams to my brown ones; they were so deep. “It’s okay, John.”

“No, it’s not okay. I want to be a gentleman and apologize for it.”

“Really, John, it’s okay.”, I giggled. “You already are a gentleman.”

John smiled and turned his whole body onto my direction. “You’re really attractive for a stranger, Mariza.”

Before I could answer, Max appeared and told us to get off stage because the security would open the doors. I rushed off stage, leaving John with Max.