You Don't Know What You Do to Me

I had a flash of déjà vu as I walked towards John’s house and saw the boys waiting outside for the van so they could head to L.A. and start recording their first full-length CD. They would only be in L.A. for about a month or so. They had a total of 20 different songs they wanted to record and were still writing. They wanted this CD to be amazing. It was pretty much make or break for them at this point.

“What are you guys doing outside? It’s winter.” I grumbled as I walked to where the boys were.

“Umm, Parks, it’s Arizona. There’s no such thing as winter.” Kennedy said smirking at me.

“Well it’s still cold out.” I said as Garrett and Pat came walking out of the house.

“Well hello Miss College Dropout. How are you?” Garrett asked me.

“Shouldn’t you be at high school little boy?” I asked.

Garrett just stuck his tongue out at me and said, “I’m actually taking online courses so ha. Even if you are a dropout I’m glad that you’re coming with us. Honestly last fall sucked without you.”

“Thanks Gare. Last fall sucked without the five of you. Hey, where’s John?”

Jared looked at me and said, “Last I saw him he was talking on the phone inside. I don’t think it was a good conversation because he was yelling.”

About this time Tim pulled up with the van and Pat ran inside to get John while the rest of us piled in.

Pat came running out with a very pissed John behind him.

John slid in beside me and the entire band gave him a questioning look.

Kennedy finally broke the silence and asked, “Dude, what’s your problem?”

“I don’t understand why girls think they can do whatever the fuck the want!” John fumed.

“Because we can.” I answered.

John glared at me and said, “Excuse me?”

“Well girls do what they want because guys pretty much let us. If a guy doesn’t let us do what we want then we’ll just drop him and find someone who will.” I said matter-of-factly.

“Well what are guys supposed to do then?” Pat questioned.

“Whatever they can to keep their girl.”

“PB, you’re a genius!” John suddenly exclaimed. “Girls do what they want, boys do what they can. That’s perfect for a song.” He then grabbed a notebook from his bag and began furiously writing lyrics.

“Does this mean that I finally get a song about me? I mean I did give you the idea for it.”

John looked at me sheepishly and said, “Well part of it will be about you but part of it will be about Miranda also. She’s the one I was just on the phone with. I promise you that you’ll get your own song one day though.”

“Why do I have to share with Miranda? I hate her.” I said.

“That’s funny Parker-Blaine. You seem to hate all of John’s girlfriends.” Jared said smirking at me.

I gave him a death glare as John said, “Actually, Miranda is now an ex. She cheated on me but told me that I couldn’t even look at another girl while in L.A.”

“Oh, I’m sorry J.” I said.

John just shrugged and said, “It’s not that big of a deal. I mean I’m mad that she cheated on me but I didn’t really like her. I didn’t even sleep with her.”

The rest of the guys immediately burst out laughing.

I rolled my eyes and said, “You guys are pigs.”

I had a feeling that spending two months in L.A. with these guys was going to be interesting, to say the least.
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I was sitting in the studio bored to death. We had been in L.A. for nearly two months and I had run out of things to do. I wasn’t old enough to go into any of the clubs or bars so that option was out and there was only so much shopping and sightseeing a girl could do. Although, I had started going to a gym and working out to try and get back in “beauty pageant form” so that helped. I was hoping to enter in the Miss Arizona contest either this year or next year. It just depended on whether or not I went on tour with the boys.

I was on my laptop when I suddenly heard the door open. I looked up to see a guy walk in with bright orange hair. The boys were busy recording so I decided to be friendly and greet the boy.

“Hello, can I help you?” I asked.

The boy smiled/smirked at me and said, “Yeah, it would be very helpful if I had your number.”

“Sure. It’s 872-59… In your dreams.” I smirked back at the boy.

The boy burst out laughing as he said, “Well it was worth a shot. I’m Nick Santino by the way. I’m friends with John and the rest of the boys. We met when they were touring in Massachusetts this past fall. I’m in a band called A Rocket to the Moon.”

I shook Nick’s outstretched hand as I said, “Hi, I’m Parker-Blaine, John’s best friend since Jr. High. If he told you about me he probably called me PB.”

“Wow, I thought PB was a boy. You obviously aren’t.”

“Nope, well at least I wasn’t the last time I checked. By the way that is some very bright hair you have there Mr. Santino.”

Nick ran a hand through his hair as he said, “Yep. I guess God just decided to give me hair this bright.”

I looked at him quizzically and said, “God gave that to you? It looks like you got that color from a hair dye box.”

Nick laughed once again and said, “Busted. How did you know?”

“I do beauty pageants. I’ve seen enough dyed hair, usually dyed blonde, to last a lifetime.”

“So are you a bottle blonde?”

I gave a disgusted look and said, “No! I’m natural. My boobs are natural too so don’t even think about asking if I’ve had a boob job.”

By this time the guys had come out of the recording booth and walked over to greet Nick.

“Hey Nick! What are you doing here?” John asked.

“Well the guys and I are getting ready to record an EP. I heard that some band called The Maine was in town so I decided to see if they were any good.”

“We’re only the best.” Kennedy smirked.

Nick just rolled his eyes and said, “John, how come you didn’t tell me that PB your best friend was a girl? Not only a girl but a hot, funny, smart girl. She’s like the trifecta over there.”

John glanced at me and then glared at Nick and said, “I didn’t tell you she was a girl because I knew you’d hit on her.”

“That was probably a good idea. Well I think I’m going to go grab lunch. Do you guys want to go with me?” Nick asked.

“We want food!” Pat and Garrett screamed.

“Wish we could Nick but we can’t. We’re almost done with this song and we need to finish it today.” John said.

Nick turned to me and asked, “What about you Parker-Blaine? It doesn’t look like you’re doing anything else so do you want to grab some lunch with me?”

“Yes! I’m so bored.”

John quickly cut in and said, “No PB. You don’t need to go with him.”

I glared at John and said. “Excuse me? I didn’t realize you had the right to control me. I’m pretty sure I can do what I want.”

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Well I think it is.”

John and I stood there glaring at each other while the rest of the guys and Nick just stood there.

John finally broke down and said, “Fine, go. But if you’re not back by the time we’re ready to go back to the hotel we’ll leave you.”

“Fine. I’ll be back here by 4:00.”

“3:59.”

“I’ll be here by 3:59 then.”

“Good.” John said and then he walked back into the recording booth and slammed the door.

Jared looked at me and said, “Thanks for putting John in a pissy mood Parks.”

“Yeah, now we’ll have to deal with his bad mood all afternoon thanks to you.” Kennedy piped up.

I was fed up with the boys by this time and I said, “You guys suck. You know what? I may just go back to Massachusetts with Nick so I don’t have to be around you jerks anymore.”

I then turned around and followed Nick out into the L.A. sunshine.