Romeo In Blue Jeans

We had arrived to the venue now and we were on the second show in Texas now. Tomorrow would be my birthday and we would get to Jacksonville, FL for the show that night. I sat in the bus with the guys. They were all on their computers and I sat there watching TV. We were parked outside of the venue and it was only noon. I lifted the blinds a bit and the line was at least fifty people long. There was a beauty salon and a pizza restaurant against the venue.

‘I need a manicure and pedicure.’ I thought and looked at the tips of my hair. 'And to cut my tips and bangs.' I stood up, grabbed my purse and put on my flip flops.

"Where are you going?" John asked.

"The salon. I need some girl time." I smiled.

"That’s okay." he chuckled, stood up, and kissed me. "Have fun."

"We’ll pass by." Garrett said before I stepped out of the bus.

I felt the people in the line staring at me as I went inside the beauty salon. There weren't a lot of people so they let me in right away. I first did my eyebrows. Then they did my hands and when they finished they sat me in a comfortable chair that massaged my back as my feet were soaked in warm water. A lady named Sandra massaged my feet and fixed my toe nails. I was listening to music throughout the whole thing on the border of falling asleep. Someone tapped on my shoulders and I opened my eyes to see John and Garrett. I took off my earphones.

"Sorry." I smiled.

"Comfortable?" John asked.

"Too comfortable." I sighed.

"You deserve it." Garrett said.

"What are you listening to?" John asked.

"You guys." I grinned. They both chuckled. "Were you swarmed when you came?"

"Nope," Garrett shook his head. "We moved the bus so we could come in and out without anyone noticing."

"The door's in the opposite side of the fans." John added.

"Sneaky." I smiled. John and Garrett decided to stay with me after Sarah finished with my toes. They waited for me as they washed my hair, cut it and blow dried it.

They finished and I looked in the mirror. My hair was just an inch shorter and I cut my bangs so they were fuller. I walked back to the waiting area and John and Garrett liked my hair. I paid the cashier only $70 and left with the guys.

"You look beautiful." John said as he walked behind me with his arms wrapped around me.

"I feel so refreshed." I breathe in. We went into the pizza restaurant and the guys bought a large cheese pizza and we went back in the bus without any commotion.

After eating, we went in the venue to do soundcheck. This Century had been inside already and they were ordering drinks. I sat in the bar with them watching the guys on stage.

"Anything for the pretty lady?" the bartender said. He looked kind of like a pedophile and it sounded as if he was flirting with me.

"No, thank you." I smiled.

"You can finally buy your own drink tomorrow." Ryan said.

"Yeah, finally." I laughed. "I'm the baby of the whole group."

"Sometimes it's good to be the youngest." Sean said.

"I know, I like it. I don't wish to change anything about my life." I answered.

"That’s the spirit." Joel said as he ruffled my hair.

"Joel! I just came out of doing my hair." I laughed.

"What are you going to do about it?" Joel stuck out his tongue at me. I grabbed his drink and pretended that I was going to spill it over his head. He ran away and I chased him around.

"What’s going on?" john laughed, stopping in the middle of a song.

"She’s trying to dunk that in my hair." Joel laughed behind a pillar.

"You asked me what I was going to do about it." I laughed and settled his drink back on the bar.

"Come up here, love." John told me.

I took the stairs to the stage. John stepped away from the microphone, signaling for me to sing. I blushed and shook my head.

"Try it." Garrett encouraged me.

"No, I suck." I said.

"No you don't." Pat said.

"Just try it out." Kenny added.

I looked at the microphone and then at john. He smiled. "What song?" I asked.

"Which ever you want." he said.

"Listen to your heart?" I asked.

"Listen to your heart it is." Garrett said.

Pat started the beat on the drums and the guys started playing. Even John grabbed his acoustic guitar and played it next to me. He nodded at me when it was time to start singing, and I did.

When we finished, this century clapped from the bar and the guys cheered me on. Even people that worked in the venue had stopped to watch us. I blushed and thanked them.

"See, you're great." Kenny said as they settled their things backstage and we went to the bar with this century.

"If you guys ever ask me to sing with you on stage when you're actually performing, I will hate you." I tried not to laugh. Who was I kidding? I could never hate them.

"You know you can't hate us." Jared winked.

"You’re right." I sighed. "I love you guys too much." John wrapped his arms around me and kissed my head.

We went back in the bus at 5:30 since doors opened at 6. The line seemed to be endless and people tried to mob us the second we went outside. We hurried into the bus. The guys’ clothes had stayed in the luggage compartments outside of the bus, so I went outside with Vito to get it for them. People had been surrounding the bus and we had to ask them to step back. Vito opened the compartment and he handed me the small bag where their clothes were.

"Vito! Can I get a picture?" a girl asked as he closed the compartment.

"Sure." he smiled and walked to her.

"Can I get a picture, Carter?" a girl asked me before I opened the door of the bus.

"Yeah." I smiled and took a picture with her and a few other girls.

"You’re really pretty and nice. I'm glad it's you going out with John and not a mean lady." One of the girls said.

"Aw, thank you." I smiled and hugged her. She was about to leave, but I asked her to wait for me to finish talking with everyone.

"Were you the one that was singing in soundcheck?" another girl asked me.

"Yeah, I was chasing around Joel and the guys asked me to try to sing." I explained.

"You’re really good." another girl said.

"Thank you." I smiled.

"Will you be singing live tonight?" a girl asked.

"No, it's the guys' headlining tour so they're the ones that have to outshine, not me." I smiled.

"You should." someone said from the bus window behind me. I looked up to see the guys watching us.

"Were you guys eaves dropping? That's wrong." I put my hands on my hips and smiled.

"Don’t change the subject." Tim said.

"They want you to sing. We all do." Garrett said.

"I can't." I said.

"Sing. Sing. Sing. Sing." John started and everyone joined him. I blushed.

"Stop, fine. I'll do it." I gave up and everyone cheered.

"Okay, guys. Doors are opening so we need you to go back to the line." Vito told everyone. They all left except the girl I had asked to stay.

"What’s your name?" I asked her.

"Ana." she answered.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"13." she answered.

"It’s very nice to meet you." I smiled and shook her hand. "You have no idea how much what you said meant to me. How do you feel about a tour of the bus and meeting the guys?"

Her smile was huge. She followed me into the bus and Vito closed the door behind us. The guys had been practicing their vocals and jumping around. I was glad we had cleaned up the bus. They stopped when they saw us.

"Who’s this?" Kenny asked.

"Her name's Ana." I introduced her. The guys all hugged her and welcomed her to sit.

"She said something that brightened my day." I smiled.

"Really? What was it?" John asked.

"That I was glad it was her you had fallen in love with because she's pretty, kind, and talented and not a bitch like other girls that bands date." Ana answered.

"That’s really nice of you to say." John thanked her.

"Do you have anyone holding your spot for you in line?" pat asked. Ana shook her head.

"I guess she's just going to have to stand backstage and hang with us." Jared said. Her huge smile appeared again and she hugged all of them. We asked her to wait for us outside of the bus while I helped the guys change. Garrett and I stood in the bathroom and I brushed his hair a bit and then everyone else's.

When everyone was ready, we went outside to meet up with Ana. Everyone but Garrett and Pat smoked before going inside. I didn't smoke either, of course. I didn't like the fact that John did it, but that didn't make me love him any less. We then went inside and Ana stood with me at the side of the stage as I took pictures of this century. The guys came on later and she sang along to every song.

"We’re adding a song to the set list tonight and someone's going to come out and sing it with us." John said. I gulped and handed Tim my camera.

"Everyone welcome Carter on stage." Garrett said.

I stepped out into the stage and people cheered. John was smiling with his hand outstretched to me. I took his hand and he pulled me closer to his microphone. He grabbed his acoustic guitar and pat started the beat of "Listen to Your Heart". The lyrics seemed to easily flow from me and at that moment, I had never felt so confident. We finished the song and people erupted with cheers, even the guys. I blushed and hugged John.

"Everyone give her another big round of applaud." Kenny said and the crowd cheered again. I thanked everyone and stepped out of the stage so the guys could continue with their set. Tim ruffled my hair as he handed me my camera. I pushed him away laughing. He's stronger so he barely moved with my shove.

The show ended and Ana had to leave before the meet and greet, but the guys took pictures with her and thanked her before she left. We climbed into the bus after the meet and greet and changed into our pajamas. I was uploading pictures in one of the front couches as everyone was in the back changing. Suddenly, all of the lights were shut off.

"Uh, guys? What happened?" I asked. The only light shining came from my MacBook and that didn't help much. No one had answered me, so I settled my computer down and walked to the back room. "Guys?"

The lights suddenly came on and everyone called out "Happy birthday". I was so surprised that I landed on the couch.

"You okay?" John chuckled and stood me up.

"Yeah," I smiled. "Thank you guys so much."

"You’re officially 21. Feel any different?" Tim asked.

"Tim, it's only midnight, let me wake up later on, then I'll let you know." I chuckled. "But thank you so much." I hugged all of them.

Everyone called me as I was writing the blog for the night's show. Melli, Vivi, and Kirky promised to celebrate when they flew to Arizona. When we went to bed, we had already left the Texas border, which meant that we were so much closer to Florida, and it made me happy. I fell asleep fast again.