Thrill of the Fall

Ivy strolled out of the bathroom in the cheap motel where they had pulled over to stop for the night after the twelve hour drive from Poughkeepsie to Indianapolis, the band had their first show tonight and it was Ivy’s first official day on the job. She pulled her long hair into a messy bun atop her head and quickly brushed over some light make up to make herself presentable, the band had an interview at noon followed by an acoustic show and it was already ten-thirty, if Ivy knew Jordan like she thought she did, this would be torture.

Jordan had never liked getting up, even as a small child and Tay’s confirmation that the rest of the band was exactly the same just multiplied her job by four, a factor which she was not looking forward to. After brushing her teeth quickly and thoroughly at a new record speed and ensuring that she had everything she needed in her purse, she darted out the door with Tay at her heels. Tay hit Rob and Mike’s room while it was up to Ivy to awaken Cameron and Jordan, Tay wished her to utmost luck before skipping off merrily.

Ivy banged on the door loudly, wincing when she heard the loud and colourful language which had emerged from the mouth of her best friend, Jordan was at his worst in the morning and she was well aware of this. Ivy could only hope that Jordan was slightly more pleasant when she actually got inside. However, it was Cameron who answered the door with his dark hair sticking up in every direction and his sweatpants were slung low on his hips as he wiped the sleep from his eyes and let out a long yawn before moving to let her in.

“Ivy, what the fuck are you doing here so early?” Jordan mumbled from his position on the bed, his voice somewhat muffled by the pillow in which his face was buried, some things never changed. Jordan had been up late last night discussing his plan of action with Tay, and hadn’t anticipated it going on for as long as it actually did but he always found that once he started talking to Tay, he could never seem to stop. It was like a vicious cycle which always ended the same way, with some overly enthusiastic girl waking him up early.

“You, my lovely compadre, have an interview and acoustic show at noon at Al’s record emporium and it’s already a quarter to eleven, so get your scrawny ass in that shower and make yourself look mildly presentable before I make you do it, now!” she instructed, her arms crossed over her chest as she made herself comfortable at the table which was conveniently located near the door of their room. “Cameron, if you are not jumping into that shower from the moment he walks out that door, you will live to regret it” she added brightly without looking up.

Her eyes scanned over the paper in front of her, the band had a somewhat busy schedule today, after their acoustic set, they had to meet up with their label representative in Indiana and talk over the recording process of their upcoming album, and they had soundcheck at four before their six o’clock show. Sometime in between all of those events, they had to manage to find time to eat some food, because nobody was going to be passing out on Ivy’s watch. Cameron just watched her in amazement as she scribbled down notes, most people wouldn’t go so far.

She was quite frightening when she was serious and working, Cameron thought it was attractive in an odd sort of way, but quickly shook his head as he tried to remove those sorts of thoughts from his head. Ivy was his tour manager, he couldn’t be having those thoughts about her, despite the fact that those were the exact thoughts that had come into his head when he had first seen her two days ago. There couldn’t be anything more than friendship between them, it just wouldn’t work out, they both had jobs and friendships which would then be jeopardised.

[&&&]

Ivy sat off to the side of the room in which the band was in a meeting with the label, her stomach growling embarrassingly as she played angry birds on her phone, there was only so many times she could go over the same schedule before all the words seemed to just blur together. They would have to be on the road by ten at the absolute latest to get to the next city, which was Cleveland Heights, at a reasonable hour before they could perform again tomorrow night. On top of that, she was absolutely starving while she waited.

“Well, aren’t you just a sight for sore-eyes?” a voice broke in and Ivy tore her eyes away from her phone to look at the person who had interrupted them, seeing a rather attractive young fellow before her. He was quite tall, but nowhere near Jordan’s height, with dark hair which was purposefully messed up, and there was a pair of Ray-bans buried within his short locks, a pair of piercing blue eyes rendering the poor girl momentarily speechless. “You’re Ivy, right? Jordan was telling me about you, I’m Cameron Leahy, and I sing for The Downtown Fiction” he added.

“Oh great, another name for my poor soul to remember, how am I ever going to survive?” she jokingly mocked herself, placing a hand over her heart dramatically, and eliciting a hearty laugh from the young lad in front of her. “Yeah, I’m Ivy, and I’m going to call you Leahy if that’s alright, so as not to get confused, which is a tendency of mine.” she laughed lightly as he took a seat next to her. She could see herself getting along with this boy, but not in the same way as she got along with Cameron.

“Whatever you want to call me is fine on my end, Bella usually calls me just about anything but my actual name so I’m completely used to it.” He laughed to himself as he thought of the dark haired beauty that had captured his heart long ago. “Oh, Bella is my girlfriend, you’ll probably meet her later today, she’s selling our merch on this tour, she designed it actually” he added onto the end and made a mental note to stop himself, he often found himself ranting about his girlfriend’s sheer brilliance in his opinion and it could be overwhelming.

Ivy smiled brightly at him, it was clear how much he loved Bella, and it put her at ease ever so slightly to know that whatever friendship occurred between the two of them wouldn’t cause any problems. It made her a little sad though; Ivy had never been in a steady relationship before, and with her twenty-first birthday in just under four weeks, she felt that she was well overdue for one. She’d had a grand total of two boyfriends in her whole life and both of them had been easily scared off by Jordan, the lovable yet irritating git.

They were your average high school relationships and she wouldn’t dare say that she was in love with either of them; she couldn’t even begin to fathom it. The first was Tom when she was fifteen, and he was a friend of a friend, they had dated for two weeks before she broke it off after he had expressed his qualms to her about her relationship with Jordan who was eighteen at the time. The second was Kyle when she was seventeen, and he had broken it off after figuring out that she would much rather read than drink excessively.

There was a sudden noise as the band came tumbling out of the room in which their ‘business meeting’ as Mr Jacobsen, the tight-lipped executive of the record company they were signed to, had preferred to call them as he scowled at Ivy’s choice of attire when the six of them had arrived at the building that afternoon. Personally, Ivy thought that her clothing choice was rather cute, with her skinny jeans and high-collared sleeveless shirt, finishing with a pair of comfortable yet stylish heels and her glasses perched on her nose professionally, but evidently the stuck-up man was not.

“Leahy, what are you doing here? Chatting up my lovely best friend, are we?” Jordan teased as the two young adults rose to meet the band, and Ivy noticed a deep set frown on Cameron’s face, he looked like he was about to start throwing punches or something. Ivy subtly moved away from Leahy and stood next to Tay, silently asking her what was wrong with the moody guitarist, the lead singer merely shrugged at her before giving her a small smirk. Jordan and Tay’s plan hadn’t expected this but it was a brilliant addition, vivid jealousy on Cameron’s end.

“Hey Cameron, you alright, buddy? You look kind of pale” Jordan put in, a sly smile on his face as he exchanged an excited look with Tay who nudged Cameron teasingly. The dark-skinned guitarist glowered at him before silently shrugging, he wasn’t used to this feeling that had bubbled up deep inside of him, and figured that it was probably best if he didn’t say anything. Ivy looked between the three of them curiously, knowing full and well that there was something going on but not being entirely certain of what exactly that was, but she would surely find out.

“So, am I the only one starving here?” Ivy mentioned as her stomach gave another loud contribution to the conversation, earning a round of laughter and putting a small half-grin on Cameron’s face. The collective group agreed to go somewhere where Ivy could get herself a taco which she was craving so earnestly, along with The Downtown Fiction, before heading to the venue, as it was getting close to soundcheck time for all of them. The guys began an animated discussion about a new movie they had all seen, while Ivy took a hold of Tay’s arm, forcing her back.

“Tay, what’s going on? And don’t bullshit me, because I know there’s something” she urged the girl whom she had become very close with over the past few days, looping their arms together as they trailed behind the guys quietly. Tay knew Cameron better than anyone, and as such, knew that while he was stubborn as fuck, he was also impatient, persistence and the sort of person who had to take action when he wanted something. He wanted Ivy, that much she was sure of, but she also knew that neither of them was ready to admit that quite yet.

They needed a little bit of pushing, if you will, and this jealousy could be that little push for him, but as for Ivy, she wasn’t too sure. Ivy and her were getting along great and she had no doubt in her mind that they would grow to become best friends in the coming weeks, but as for now, she needed Jordan to work some of his ‘best friend magic’ and talk to Ivy. It wouldn’t be all that difficult, she didn’t think, but if Cameron and Ivy were as stubborn as each other, there could be a little trouble.

“I haven’t the slightest idea what you might mean by that, dearest Ivy” Tay grinned innocently before skipping ahead and dragging the unprepared tour manager along with her, Ivy’s feet travelling faster than they should’ve been in her heels. The guys were completely unaware of the abnormality of the two girls, and as such, completely disregarded their sudden reappearance into the conversation. Ivy continued to scowl at Tay, but for now, let it go as she enjoyed the conversation which had moved on from the new movie to failed sexual conquests, a topic she was not really that familiar with.

It amused her all the same, despite her lack of contribution to the discussion, and the group finally made their way to a taco bell after much persuasion from Ivy, honestly, she was pretty sure they only agreed in order to shut her up. She laughed lightly to herself once they all made it through the door of the small location, the look on the cashier’s face was priceless, and it must’ve been slightly intimidating to see a group of twenty-year old kids who still dressed like they were seventeen coming into one small establishment at the exact same time.

Cameron stood in line next to Ivy and found himself glancing at her every few seconds, admiring the way she chewed her bottom lip while she was in deep thought and thinking about how nice she would’ve looked with his arm around her. “Ives, can I ask you a question?” he said suddenly, catching her off-guard as she looked up at him innocently, it wasn’t a purposeful think it was just ... Ivy. Her blue eyes were wide as they waited for his continuation of the statement, “Can you see yourself being with someone in the near future?” he questioned.

Ivy felt a deep blush cover her cheeks as they progressed in the line, they were second up now, and she had absolutely no idea why he would ask her such a question, he couldn’t possibly- no, she brushed that thought away as soon as it came, that was beyond the realms of ridiculous. She answered his question honestly, “Yes, there is a person who I can see myself with, but he wouldn’t go for me” she smiled softly at him before speaking to the cashier. “Hello there, can I have a Cheesy bean and rice burrito?”

[&&&]

It was five-thirty and the band had to be ready go on in within the next twenty minutes, yet, the group was nowhere to be found and the petite tour manager was beginning to stress out. She bit her lip as she made her way down the bustling hallway, members of the crew from other bands running past her in the hallway with fleeting glances, she peeked into the dressing room for both We Are The In Crowd and The Downtown Fiction with no such luck, where the bloody hell was her band?! She could feel herself losing all control.

She heard a large bang behind the next door along followed by loud and boisterous laughter, which she was sure belonged to her band, the sign on the door announced that the dressing room belonged to The Ready Set, who was the headliner on this tour. Hesitantly, Ivy pushed open the door and her mouth dropped at the sight in front of them, unbe-bloody-lievable, they honestly had no limits. She tried to put a serious face on as she suddenly had twenty something pairs of eyes focused on her, all with a deer caught in the headlights sort of expression.

There was a broken table in the corner of the room, and it appeared that Jordan, Mike and Cameron had taken on Leahy, Eric and David from The Downtown Fiction and, somehow, her guys had come out as the winners. She suddenly burst out laughing and everyone else in the room joined in as she grasped the door frame for support and shook her head at this ridiculousness. “What the bloody hell are you idiots doing? You have to be on stage in twenty minutes!” she exclaimed, a hint of amusement still evident in her voice as she waited.

“Well, you see, my dearest Ivy, we were challenged by our lovely friends in The Downtown Fiction to as who could fit as many people on the table before it collapsed, and, unsurprisingly, we won” Jordan informed her proudly before striking a superman pose and grinning shamelessly at her. However, she was unsure as to why exactly the six of them were shirtless, not that she was complaining, as her eyes raked in the image of Cameron’s bare chest, committing in to her eternal memory. He wasn’t a muscle man, but there was signs of toning there, and it was enjoyable.

“You’re out of your mind, all of you, go and get dressed, you only have ten minutes!” she shouted after them as they sprinted out of the room, shaking her head and laughing at them. A tiny yet powerful girl bounced over to her and grabbed her in a tight hug, clearly full of energy and adrenaline. She had dark brown hair which was cut in a choppy style that stopped just above her shoulders; she wore an eclectic outfit of a bright orange dress with black leggings underneath, a pair of floral print vans and many bracelets completing it.

“Hi! You’re Ivy, aren’t you? I’m Bella Jones! Tay and Cameron have told me so much about you and I just know we’re going to be the best of friends! Cameron said you were really pretty but gosh, he just doesn’t do you justice, does he, dorkhead?” she bubbled out, addressing her boyfriend as she released the startled tour manager, Leahy came over and curled his arms around Bella’s waist comfortably, resting his chin on her shoulder as he agreed with her. It was always best to just agree with Bella, she was right most of the time, after all.

“Cameron? As in, Hurley?” Ivy questioned, blinking as she tried to comprehend what the eccentric girl was saying, Cameron Hurley had called her pretty? This was all too much for her. She looked over the couple’s shoulder to Tay who was in a conversation with the drummer for The Ready Set, before shaking her head; she had to get to stage. “TAYLOR! STAGE! NOW!” she shouted as she exited the room, her heels clicking on the tile of the hallway. Tay followed her with a bounce in her step, dancing ahead of the confused girl and grinning to herself gleefully.

[&&&]

Ivy had the largest grin painted over her face as she watched the band play, they were actually quite brilliant, if she did say so herself. Admittedly, she was a tad bit biased, but what did that matter? From the way Jordan and Tay’s voice harmonised together to the way Cameron’s guitar solos and Rob’s catchy drumming made her feet tap, there was something utterly addictive about We Are The In Crowd, and she was honoured to be able to call at least two of the people on that stage her best friends, one she hoped would be more.

“THANK YOU INDIANAPOLIS!” Jordan shouted as they ran offstage, to a thundering applause which made Ivy smile as she jumped off the large box that she had been watching from, handing all of the members a bottle of water as she congratulated them all on the brilliant show they had just performed. The five of them were bouncing around, still jittery and high strung from the adrenaline they had felt from the show, the first show of a tour was always the best, the band’s were all excited and pumped for the rest of the tour, eager for the rest.

“Ivy! Did you like it?” Cameron asked as he raked a hand through his dark hair, taking a large gulp from his water bottle and grinning at the bubbly girl. She nodded enthusiastically at him and let out a surprised squeal as he grabbed her in a sweaty hug, his arms looping easily around her waist as he swung her around in the air, eliciting protests from her to put her down and go shower. He sent her a confident wink as he stepped past her to go and get changed from his sweat drenched performance clothes, making her blush.

Jordan and Tay grinned widely at each other, it was working, the plan was mother fucking working, and it would be no time at all now until they were more together than peanut butter and jelly. These looks went completely unnoticed by Ivy, her heart felt as if it was going to spontaneously combust, and her skin burned where he had touched her, an icy tingle spreading all the way from her head to her toes. She was beyond confused and knew better than to get involved, but she wanted to experience the feeling of his arms around her again.