Blind Ambition

ADRIEN'S POV

"Adrien! What the hell are you doing?" Ashlyn barked. Another day at practice with the she-dragon. Oh, happy day.

"Uh, I don't know, playing the guitar?" I retorted, my eyes not meeting her glare.

"Well, it seems like you're murdering it. And I mean it in the worst way possible." She put her hands on her hips, her green eyes wide with annoyance.

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. The last thing I want is me being kicked out of the band I started. Ashlyn is never to be messed with.

Here's the deal: she thinks she's the queen in this band, Headline Vision, just 'cause she's the lead singer and her dad's our manager. Philip and my cousin Justin, our drummer and bassist can't even dare to disagree with her or else she'll kill them. So the 3 of us decided to just let her be. Karma will fall on her one of these days.

There's another thing we all don't have that she has: the great talent of being a big fat liar. She can wrap everyone around her manicured finger and order them around. Everyone believes her so if she tells people we murdered someone, along with her stupid acting and lies, they'll surely believe her.

You might be thinking along the lines of "Stand up against her, you idiot!" and "What a pushover, you'll never succeed in anything just go be a slave." You see, I really really like being in a band and playing the guitar. She wasn't always this bad, just a little bit. We were pretty close friends before but as we got closer to fame, we grew farther apart.

She's not exactly terrorist evil (though I know she can be if she wanted to), just very very mean. But of course, fans like her 'cause she appears and acts nice when there are other people around. But it depends on who she considers as 'people'.

So, I just keep my complaints to myself. I've been quite tolerant ever since, plus, I have a skill of hiding my feelings so I think I'll manage. I'd do anything to continue living my dream, even if it means that I have to be a pushover. I'm used to it anyway. Five years of friendship with Ashlyn was great practice.

"Adrien, what do I keep on telling you?" she asked, flipping her long and wavy red hair to the side. It always seems like she wakes up at the crack dawn just to get her hair fixed. What a waste. I wouldn't sacrifice my sleep just to look good for others. I don't care what they think. I'm just me.

"To strum softer so your wonderful voice can be heard by all the people in the land," I answered with too much fake enthusiasm.

She nodded. "And? What are you doing? You look like you're almost breaking the strings for strumming loudly!" Her green eyes widened in irritation.

"Fine," I replied. I lowered the volume down a little then continued playing. "Happy now?"

"Okay, that's enough," Mr. Oliver, Ashlyn's father said as he entered the room. "I just learned recently that you'll be with The Maine in 1 tour bus for the tour. I tried my best to ask for privacy but they said it's for camaraderie and it's practical side you'll be touring with them again for the next months so you can get to know them now. Anyway, tomorrow, we'll be having our last whole day rehearsal here then the next day, the bus will pick you up here. Don't mess up kids."

We nodded. "The Maine?" Ashlyn said after her father left. "They're like, the coolest band!" she exclaimed like a fangirl. "I'm sure they'll have no problem touring with me," she said with a wink then strutted with her 4-inch heels towards the exit, leaving us to clean and pack up.

"Ugh," I said. "Why did this happen to her? I mean, she wasn't exactly nice throughout high school but she wasn't this, this rotten."

"She's just an annoying brat!" Justin said. He picked up his bass and put it inside the case. "She'll get what she deserves someday. If she wasn't a great singer I would've never let her join us in the first place."

"You know what? I bet The Maine will just ignore her and see her as the slut she is," Philip said.

Among us, Philip's the one who definitely has the biggest grudge on Ashlyn. She not only seduced his brother but also cheated on him. A really fantastic achievement. Yeah right, just let me barf.

"Maybe. Unless she unleashes her truly remarkable lying skills to look innocent, pure and nice just to make them fall for her," I said with a laugh. I placed my guitar in it's case and put it in the cabinet.

"Oh hell no, please don't let that happen," Justin said with a laugh. "Just thinking of her and those adjectives in one sentence makes me puke. Just—" He shivered in disgust.

I laughed. "Let's just wait and see," I said with a smile.

After putting our stuff in the van, we sat at our usual places. I always loved being near the window 'cause it's a nice place to contemplate. I'm the kind of person who doesn't even know where she passes by while inside the car 'cause her mind's always flying.

"Guys, look! It's The Maine! They just had another video update and they said our band's name!" she said as we entered the van. She turned her MacBook towards us and played the video from YouTube.

Five guys filled the screen. "Hi, we're The Maine, and we're here to invite you guys to go see us in Warped tour in a few days with All Time Low, VersaEmerge, This Century, We Are The In Crowd, Headline Vision, and many more. We'd love to see you there!"

"Who's that guy?" I asked, pointing to the seemingly awkward one beside the brown-haired boy wearing sunglasses who had a tattoo on his chest.

Ashlyn turned towards me, her eyes wide. "You don't know them?" she asked me, shocked.

I shrugged. "I know their songs, I don't know their names." I don't exactly have time to memorize their pedigree.

"Do I have to teach you everything? Sheesh." She rolled her eyes, paused the video and said, "This guy in the middle, the one with tattoos, is John O'Callaghan, the lead singer. Hot, isn't he?" she said with a smile. Honestly, I think anything with a penis is hot for Ashlyn.

"This one, the guy on the right is Jared Monaco, lead guitar. Then this is Pat Kirch, drummer, and Kennedy Brock, rhythm guitarist," Justin interrupted. "We've met them before 'cause we were classmates during middle school and high school." While I was in an all-girls school with Ashlyn.

"And last but definitely not the least, this wonderful boy, the one you pointed at, is Garrett Nickelsen, the hottest, yummiest boy in the world." Ashlyn smiled lustfully. Blech. I wonder how I live with this kind of girl.

"Oh," I said. How the hell do you know if someone's yummy? What is he, food? Jeez, some girls and their adjectives.

"Oh, and don't even think of getting near him, he's mine. I already have a plan," she said, applying lip gloss. As if I didn't notice. She was practically drooling over him.

"He's all yours. I don't even want any of them," I said honestly. Unlike other normal girls, I don't have crushes. I just think someone's handsome but that's just it, no dreams to have a boyfriend. I don't even wear make up unless it's really needed. I just remain normal. My mind's set on my career and I wouldn't ever let a boy come between me and my dreams.

"Fine, more for me!" she said with a high-pitched laugh. No wonder she can reach those exceedingly high notes, even her laughs are high pitched.

When we reached our house (yes, we live together, what fun), we all went straight to our own rooms.

"Goodnight Adrien," Justin and Philip said as we went our separate ways to our rooms.

"Goodnight guys," I replied. I opened the door to my room and took out the clothes I'll use for the tour. Of course, these consist of t-shirts and jeans, no girly and revealing stuff, since I'm not, and will never be, girly. I like being comfortable and I don't want to torture myself by wearing skimpy skirts and revealing tops like what Ashlyn wears. I'm not a tomboy, I'm just boyish but I'm completely happy being a girl and I wouldn't change that.

It's better to pack early than forget things when you cram so I decided to pack up. Well, if you call shoving your clothes into your bags packing.

"Hey, Adrien, wake up!" I heard Justin say. I didn't hear him come in but he somehow ended up shaking my arm, telling me to get out of bed, which was kind of normal. They always wake me up 'cause I sleep like a hibernating bear.

"What, what's happening?" I asked but I still didn't get up. I pulled up the blanket and covered my face with it.

"Ashlyn wants us to practice early so she can go to the spa and stuff." Philip poked my arm.

"The hell with that, she can go now." I turned to the other side and peeked at the clock on my wall. "It's freakin' 6:30 in the morning!" I covered my face with my blanket.

"Where's that lazy girl!" I heard Ashley yell from downstairs.

"Ugh," I stood up groggily, hesitantly went to the bathroom to shower, and changed into a blue loose shirt and skinny jeans. I didn't even bother fixing my hair.

I hurriedly went downstairs to the practice room. When I arrived, Ashley was fuming. "Why are you so inconsiderate?! Can't you understand that I have something else to do later?! You selfish brat!"

Justin, Philip, and I looked at each other. "Sorry my queen," I muttered under my breath. Yeah, I'm the one who's selfish and inconsiderate. Look who's talking. "Sorry."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, let's just practice the whole set first."

One good thing about Ashley is that she's an extremely talented singer. She's always on key and she can reach very high notes. So it's impossible to kick her out, adding the well known fact that her dad's our manager and we don't know anyone else who can sing like her.

"Okay, let's take 5. Then we'll practice everything again," Ashley said after 4 hours.

"Ouch, my wrist is aching. I think my fingers and worn out," I told Justin. "5 minutes for 4 hours of practice?!"

"Mine hurt too. I don't even know how she does it. 4 straight hours of singing! Jeez, I think she's a witch! And not like Hermione Granger, the Bellatrix Lestrange kind," he replied.

I laughed. "Right on," I agreed. "I'm parched." Aside from playing the guitar, I also sing back-up, but only because the management thought it would sound better. Ashlyn threw a fit 'cause of that.

After an exhaustingly long day, it was finally time for Ashlyn's spa and salon schedule. "Yes!" Philip exclaimed when Ashlyn left. "Free at last!"

"Finally!" Justin said then slumped on the sofa in the living room. "The witch has left the house."

"Don't say that out loud! She might have charmed the house and for all we know she might be jinxing us at this moment," I whispered.

We all laughed. "Whatever." Justin smiled. He took out his phone and started texting.

"Oooh, lover boy's got it bad," I jeered. He's the only one who's in a committed relationship among all of us. Ashlyn's never had a serious relationship as far as I know and Philip's a bit scared after what Ashlyn did. He's had this slight prejudice on girls after that. Well, except me, I'm practically a boy to them.

"Shut up, you'll feel this way someday," he said with a smile, not taking his eyes off of his phone.

"I assure you, I will never ever ever feel that way for any person," I said strongly.

He smirked. "Let's just wait and see my dear cousin," he said with a mischievous smile. "You'll never know what will happen. And love's inevitable."

I snickered and stuck out my tongue at him. "Whatever."