I'm Dancing on the Ceiling

“Alex! Alex! Alex, wake up!” I sang, jumping on the singer’s bed four months, give or take, later.

“Clarissa, I love you but shut uuuuuuuup!” he groaned, rolling onto his back. I stood so I was standing with one foot on each side of him before dropping down onto my knees. He opened a eye at me.

“What’re doing awake?”

“Get up! We gotta go to the store!”

“Why?” he asked, his voice hoarse and sleepy.

“It comes out today!”

“What does?”

“The Nerd Herd! Now get up!” I whined, bouncing on top of my boyfriend.

Alex mumbled, “No.”

“You’re being a bad boyfriend,” I said with a pout.

“You have a band to go with you. Take them,” he grumbled.

“Stop being a bum, Alexander Gaskarth. You’re going with me. Now get up, you’re going with me and you have no say in the matter!”

“You’re a whore,” he said, turning on his side so I was straddling his hip. I leaned over and pressed a kiss behind his ear. He moaned quietly.

“Come on, Alex. Wake up. Come with me. Please. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease.” I tugged on his ear. He turned onto his back and stared up at me. I leaned in close, resting my forehead against his, rubbing our noses together. “Please, baby.”

“Baby. That’s new.”

“That’s it. Get up.”

“No.”

I pouted, getting up from my boyfriend’s back and left his room. I waited outside until the door opened a few minutes later and Alex stepped out.

“Coming?” I asked, holding out my hand. The singer had gotten dressed and pulled his beanie on over his messy bed hair.

“You’re lucky that you’re adorable,” he commented and then stopped, taking in my attire for the day. “Are you wearing an All Time Low shirt?”

It was a simply black t-shirt with All Time Low in purple print across the chest and the guy’s picture on the stomach. I also had put on a pair of tan skinny cargo pants, dressing for the season. I had put on a pair of dark blue TOMS, refusing to wear actual sneakers.

I finally managed to get Alex out of the house about 30 minutes later, just after 9 o’clock. He wasn’t happy about it, but I could deal with an unhappy Alex. He drove me to the nearest independent record store where I immediately raced inside and straight to the Pop/Rock section, finding the B’s. The bell chimed as Alex loped in. I flipped to my name and stared at it excitedly.

CLARY BOWEN

And behind it were 4 copies of The Nerd Herd, and I squealed with delight. I took out my phone and snapped a picture of the section, sending it to Twitpic.

ClaryBowen I’m picking up a copy today… are you?

Alex’s arms circled my waist and he hugged me from behind.

“I’m proud of you, baby.”

I stared at my album, holding a copy of my album. The artwork was simple, black and white aside from my name. The outer edge was a black film frame. Inside the frame, in shadowed print The Nerd Herd was repeated down the left side, getting bigger each time until the entire title no longer fit along the bottom. And my name was in a light purple simple cursive script. I was proud of it, of all the work I’d put in it.

“Baby, that’s new,” I shot at him.

He chuckled and kissed my cheek.

“Did you bring your wallet?” he asked. I cursed.

“No.”

“I’ll buy it then,” he whispered and took the cd from my hands. He walked over to the counter. I stared at him as the cashier flirted with him and rung him up. He nodded, said his goodbyes and walked over to me.

“Ready?”

I nodded, grabbed the bag from him as we left the store. I made quick work of the plastic wrapping and finally unleashed the cardboard packaging. I’d elected for that over the plastic case because I knew that I always broke my plastic cases. These were better.

We got into the car and slowly buckled up.

“It’s a good feeling, isn’t it? Holding it for the first time? It’s like finally holding your child for the first time.”

I nodded.

“That’s definitely how it feels right now.”

He leaned over before backing out of the spot, kissing me.

“Congratulations, baby. I love you.”

I squealed and kissed him back. It was, actually, the first time either one of us had said it.

“I love you too,” I whispered, just for him to hear.

I sat back in my seat, completely content with my life. Mason was back in it, on a regular basis and he was still sober. Alex was definitely still in my life. Gary wasn’t. He was actually sent to jail for not only my attack but he raped some girl who turned him down at a bar. I have that girl’s number now, and we talk whenever she needs it. Life was good. Especially because the week before, I’d been told that they were planning a nationwide tour, complete with Canada dates. I’ve never been to Canada but I know I have plenty of fans there. I was just so excited. I had finally done what I’d set out to do, and then some. My boys were going to be my live band, and everything was just so amazing. I couldn’t wait for everything to start.