A New York Smile In Skinny Jeans

Topher smiled as he bumped Ryan with his elbow “Told you she'd be here waiting for us! Pay up,” he demanded as he shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. The two were currently walking down the sidewalk up to the entrance to Santos Party House in New York City. The cold was especially biting with the wind that day.

Ryan was currently miserable and he couldn't believe Topher was actually able to drag him out of their warm van over a stupid bet.

On the stoop, her thumbs typing madly away on her phone, bright pink earbuds shoved into her ears, and a cigarette perched between two gloved fingers, was the girl said bet was made about.

As two pairs of shoes came into her peripheral vision she made to move out of the way to let them get by her, until she looked up and realized she was pretty much crotch level with her favorite lead singer.

“Topher!” she squealed happily as she stood, pulling her earbuds out and stuffing her phone in one of her many pockets. She quickly pulled the tall and skinny lead singer into a tight hug, minding not to burn him with what was left of her lit nicotine stick. “Fuck, you have no clue how much I am dying right now. I'm a fucking Florida-sicle!” she laughed.

Topher laughed softly as he hugged her back tightly. “Actually, I do,” he said, sticking his tongue out at her slightly, “and I thought you quit smoking?” he asked, eyebrows drawing together in disappointment.

Ashley sighs, dropping what was left of her fag and stamping it out. “I got bored waiting for you guys... I've been sitting here for two hours.”

She then turned to the drummer, hugging Ryan equally as warmly. “Ryyyyan,” she said with a smile in her voice. “How's my favorite drummer?”

“Cold,” he said in mono-tone, “and 100 bucks poor-er.” Ryan then reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet and handing Topher five twenties, the drummer looking more and more heartbroken as the money left his hands.

Ashley looked between the two band-mates suspiciously before crossing her arms and looking at Topher expectantly.

The singer smirked happily and evilly at her. “Ryan didn't think you'd be waiting here for us like you have been at every other show cause it's cold,” Topher explained as he counted to make sure he had 100 dollars.

She gasped, punching Topher gently in the arm. “How dare you make a profit off of me from your band-mate!” she said in faux astonishment. “And how dare you make money off me from a bet and not give me a cut... To later spend on your guys' merch.” Ashley rolled her eyes, but smiled expectantly at Topher, the lead singer sighing before giving her one twenty.

“Ho,” he said simply, getting another punch in the arm.

“Ryan? Would you walk with me to McDonalds? Or do you have to go do something?” she asked. Ashley had started getting pretty hungry waiting for them, but the venue was in the outskirts of chinatown, and Ashley was a small town girl. She was pretty piss scared just sitting on the stoop of Santos Party House.

Ryan looked at Topher, the singer shrugging. Ryan nodded, “I'm gonna see if anybody else wants to go, okay?” he said before walking back to the van with Topher, Ashley deciding to follow them.

“MCPETERS!” she greeted when he climbed out as they got to the salt-covered blue van. “I HAVE MISSED YOUR SOUTHERN-SELF!” she said as she clung to the guitarist who was shivering slightly.

“How are you not frozen?” he asked as he hugged her back, trying to get warmer. The southerner had just gotten out of the van and he was already frozen to the core.

“Too excited about seeing you guys to notice that I'm freezing.” Ashley jumped up and down in place a few times to prove her point, grinning fiercely. “I have been looking forward to this tour ever since it got announced! Did you know this is my first time staying in a hotel by myself?” she asked excitedly.

McPeters grinned and high-fived her. “Really? How come? You came to see the double header by yourself. Or did you really sleep in your car like you said you did?” All of them really did wonder if she had. Chris had secretly hoped she hadn't, just because of how dangerous that would have been.

Ashley nodded “Yeah, I really slept in my car, for, like, the millionth time. It's because I just turned 18! My birthday was on the twenty-fourth. Oh, speaking of birthdays, happy birthday, McPeters! I like you even more now,” she said with a mildly smug face. McPeters raised an eyebrow at her, asking why, only to be answered with, “You're a Sagittarius too! I like fellow Sagittariuses,” before giving him a big, teeth showing, grin.

Right at that moment Ryan reemerged from the van with Dan following behind. “JK's still sleeping and Topher doesn't eat McDonalds.”

She nodded as she started to lead the three boys down the sidewalk to where the McDonalds was. “I know... He's Mr.Stick-Boy-That-Doesn't-Eat-Anything-From-Animals.”

Dan rolled his eyes, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and frowning when he found it empty. “Ashley, do you have any cigarettes? I'll pay you back later for them, if you want.”

She pulled out her pack of camel cool burst, handing a couple off to Dan. “Nawh, it's cool. Just play awesomely tonight and you'll be paying me back.” Ashley then turned, walking backwards in front of three out of five of her favorite guys. “So sneak peak at tonight's set-list? You guys gonna play two of my favorite songs? Maybe something from Third Act Stories?”

***

She grinned as she walked into Santos', finding right under the stage to be hollow. She immediately rid herself of her big bulky winter coat and purse, shoving them under stage and then walking off to find one of her TBL boys to talk to until the show started. She was pretty impressed with the layout. When standing in front of the stage and facing the door there was a bar to the immediate left and one a little farther back on the right. Where they were doing merch that night was up a couple steps and right below the sound guy's booth. JK was sitting behind the merch table tapping away on his iPhone, more than likely texting his girl friend.
“Hey JK...” Ashley said, eying the christams bundle and grinning at the christmas card with all of them but Dan as reindeer. Dan was Santa, or 'Danta' Claus.

JK smiled at her as he glanced up from his phone before looking back down. She couldn't help but inwardly giggle at his cut-off gloves. They really made him look like a poorly fed hobo.

Her attention was then drawn to the stage as someone from one of the random local bands played a few chords on his guitar. Ashley gave JK a goodbye wave before walking back up to her spot just a little stage right of center stage. She never got good pictures of Topher when she was center stage.

***

She had ended stripping down to her tank top during the show. She didn't think there was really one song that she wasn't moving for. Topher gave her a shout-out for being there when she was from FL, not that she could remember his exact words by the end of the set.

Ashley grinned drunkenly as she gathered her shit and wandered over to the TBL boys, waiting patiently to talk to them, giving each boy a big hug before she headed out the door and into the biting cold of the night sky of New York City.

She couldn't help but sing “Skinny Jeans” as she walked to the parking garage where she had parked her Kia Soul. She sighed happily at the end of the song, the cold biting all of her exposed skin. It felt good, though. All her nerves were standing on alert, but at the same time the world was fuzzier than it had ever been. “And to think this is only the first of six days...” she said to herself, her voice echoing off the empty skyscrapers.

END