The Right Girl

ASHTON’S POV
I looked at my phone and was quick to save the number. Just as I did so, the door opened and Cora walked in, sitting down on my bed. She looked at me and, although I thought I had a calm exterior on, asked, “What’s got you so happy?”

I cracked immediately. “John called me. He apologized, saying he’d make it up to me, and he invited me to the Booth tonight.”

“The Booth?” Cora asked, her eyebrow shooting up. “You know that’s where his band performs, right? And isn’t that where you guys first met, technically speaking?”

I looked down, my skin turning red. “Yeah.”

“Oh, so much sentimentality in this meet-up!” Cora said, flopping down on my bed so her back hit my mattress. “I wonder if he wrote you a song and is going to sing it to you, try and seduce you so it’s easier for you to forgive him. What a typical dude.”

I laughed. “If he wrote me a song and tried to seduce me, I totally would not mind.”

“No, no, be strong!” Cora yelled, hanging onto me. “Be a feminist, for gods sake!”

I laughed, pushing her off. “Cora, aren’t you the dramatic one?! Are you gonna help me get ready for my hot date and make-up, make-out session or not?”

She sighed, sitting up on the bed. “I guess so.”

One hot outfit and hairdo later, and I was driving to the venue with Cora in my passenger’s seat. She would be attending the show with me as a means of moral support if anything were to go wrong or if I started freaking out. We pulled up to the venue and walked inside, paying at the door. We squeezed into the small room with a surprisingly large crowd, and Cora pulled me towards the front. No matter how much she may chastise me for taking player John back and giving him another chance, I knew she wanted me to be with him because she saw how happy he made me. And she wanted him to spot me when he was up onstage, and so the only way he could spot me is if I was near him.

We stopped when we got to about the fifth row, and the lights dimmed just as we reached our spots and got comfortable. The crowd around us screamed and surged forward as I heard boys’ voices chanting on the side of the stage.

Then the Maine jumped up onstage.

JOHN’S POV
It was ten minutes prior to when I’d jump up onstage and probably sing my heart out to Ashton. After telling my best friends, who also happened to be the guys in my band, about the situation I was in, they all suggested I write a song about it and perhaps sing it tonight at the show. But so far, I hadn’t gotten very far. Several words had spilled out, but they were either incoherent or pointless. My emotions for her were so messed up, I had a hard time getting it all out on paper and making sense at the same time.

I stopped after about thirty minutes and started on a new piece of paper the final draft of what I had so far, then read it out loud to myself.

VERSE ONE: Got caught running up a tab,
Couldn’t drive home so I had to share a cab
Introduced herself by her last name,
The kind of girl you steal from the football team
Brought up a silver spoon mess,
Always trying to tear off her Catholic dress
Told me she’s over this place,
Needs to feel the midwest wind in her face
But the alcohol made its way down
She was the last thing that I saw last night before I hit the ground
CHORUS: Oh, God, I did the wrong thing to the right girl
My mind was only in it for a minute
Had a bad fling with a good girl
I was stupid and dumb, not giving a shit
The blank stare out the window
If I could just sober up, I could just admit
I did the wrong thing to the right girl
It was your world, baby, and i just lived in it
It was your world, baby, and I just lived in it
VERSE 2: I’ve never been the best with my mouth
Try to stay smart, but the dumb comes out
Maybe I’m shy, I drive an old car,
Maybe I’m amazed that I got this far
I got my standbys waiting on the line,
But the hardest part is knowing that it won’t be her this time
CHORUS

“John,” Kennedy said, poking his head in. My hand slid off the paper and I glared up at him. He put his hands up and said, “Yo, man, I’m sorry, but we have to go onstage like, now.”

I sighed. “So much for a new song tonight to impress Ashton with.”

Garrett smirked, smacking me on the back. “Being your sexy self usually works, bro. What’s up with this chick that you can’t just send her one smirk and she’s on her knees, asking for more?”

“She’s sophisticated, and she knows how to play my game. In fact, I think she’s the creator of the game,” I said as we made our way sidestage. The chatter of the crowd got me all pumped out as I shrugged off all worry of Ashton not approving of my band. If she didn’t approve of the band, she didn’t approve of me, and that was that.

We began our chant, starting with a simple ‘Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh’ as we smacked our thighs and clapped. We then began the actual chant: “We like to party. We like, we like to party. We like to party. We like, we like to party.”

“THE MAINE!” Tim shouted as we all yelled. The crowd screamed as we all bounced onstage, and the crowd surged forward to reach for our hands or any part of our bodies. Being a local rockstar was pretty exhilarating, especially as I walked up to the mic and some girl screamed her profession of love for me.

“Yo, Tempe, wassup!?” I yelled into the mic. Everybody screamed and I smiled, nodding my head. “Alright, alright, alright! Well, as you know, we’re the Maine and we’re from this place you guys call home, and we’re gonna jump right in here. This song’s called ‘We Change, We Wait.’”

My band exploded into sound and I scanned the crowd as I sang. Finally, I found her with her best friend, Cora, and she locked eyes with me. I pointed to her and she nodded, grinning as the girls in the crowd turned towards her and gave her jealous stares. I laughed and continued singing and rushed through the show. I jumped off the stage when I was done with my set and walked to the bar, receiving compliments from several people along the way.

Sitting there and waiting for me without her girl was Ashton.

I walked up to her and gave her a hug, saying, “I’m glad you came. Perhaps we should go out back so we can talk and can actually hear what we’re saying?”

She laughed as she said, “Good idea.”

I took her hand in mine and began to lead her out the front way. We walked around the venue and went to the back, sitting on the steps that led to the door that opened up to the backstage area.

“I would just like to start off with once more stating how sorry I am about just assuming that I was like every other guy, and I’m going to tell you the truth. The first time I saw you was when you were at one of your friends’ baseball games back in like, the sixth grade, and I saw you in the stands and I thought you were beautiful. So I made this plan to build up my rep so that I could get to meet you, and basically, that got me into some bad situations. A few bitch slaps here and there, a few pregnancy attempts, it was pretty awful and I don’t want to go back,” I said, shaking my head. Ashton just stared at me, her mouth agate. “It was all to meet you, and I know that sounds psychopathic, but it’s true. You just have this effect on everybody that I don’t think you even realize you have. But hell, you have it, and you rock it, and you affect everybody with it, even those who don’t want it.”

“John, I felt something different with you and it freaked me out, especially since you weren’t one of the guys I’ve known forever. I was meeting you for the first time and still, I felt something with you, something I haven’t felt before, and I liked the feeling, but it also freaked me out. I just... got, I sound so repetitive,” Ashton said, covering her face with her hands. I took her hands in mine and she looked up at me.

“You sound fine, just get it all out,” I said to her. She smiled at me.

“See, that’s the John I saw. I knew and I had heard about the things you had done with girls and to girls, but there was this John that I wasn’t sure if he was just a cover he put on to get a girl into bed... but I really didn’t care. Because I felt like it wasn’t cover, and I’m starting to believe that I’m right- that this sweet John is who you truly are,” Ashton said, sounding relieved almost.

“So,” I said, leaning back on the steps. She leant back with me and I brushed my hand up and down her arm. “Where does this leave us?”

“Maybe we can take it slow,” she said. I leant in slowly to meet her lips, and she smiled. She leant up and kissed me on the cheek, and I sighed dramatically, making her laugh. “John, you know what I mean. I don’t want to rush into this.”

“Wow, I don’t know whether to feel insulted or complimented because you want to take things slow with me so you don’t ‘screw it up,’” I said, using air quotes and everything. Ashton laughed as she put her hands on my thighs, and I pulled her in so she sat between my legs.

“It’s meant as a compliment, I promise you,” she said to me, kissing me on the cheek again. Her phone began ringing and she looked at it, standing up as I stood up with her. “That would be Cora, wanting to leave now so we can beat out traffic. Can I count on you to actually call me this time, Mr. O’Callaghan?” She asked me teasingly.

I smiled, nodding. “You can trust me.”

She leant up and kissed me on the lips real quick, catching me off-guard so I couldn’t milk it for more. She laughed at my expression as she ran away, her hair flying out behind her. I smiled to myself. Although she wasn’t my girlfriend, she was still, in a sense, mine.

And that’s all I had ever wanted.