Happy Birthday to Me

MARISSA

"Oh God, you are a health nut." Frank muttered.

"Am not!" I denied.

Ray smiled, "Dude, she wouldn't have eaten at Hot Dog on a Stick the other day if she were a health nut."

"Okay, will you two please stop calling me a health nut? I'm starting to feel like I do when Gerard calls me a crazed fan." I said quietly.

Frank looked down to the ground, feeling bad and mumbled, "I'm sorry."

God, it's like dealing with children with these two. "It's okay." I said as I smiled to make him smile.

Ray exhaled loudly before he changed the subject, "So, if we've got everything we need then we should go to the checkout. I mean, we don't want to get behind schedule. Besides, if we take any longer Gee may actually have a cow."

I smirked, "If he does I might try to put it on Youtube."

Ray laughed out loud as we pushed the cart to the check-out counters.

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The three of us brought bags of groceries onto the bus and put them all away as silently as possible because Gerard, Mikey, and Bob were still asleep in their bunks in the back of the bus. Meanwhile, the bus driver pulled out of the parking lot and got back out on the freeway.

Once we finished putting everything away, I grabbed the bag of grapes and plopped down on the couch. Ray sat down next to me and Frank slid into the backwards facing booth at the table which was across from us.

"So where we headed?" I asked before I popped a few of the juicy grapes into my mouth.

Frank smiled from ear to ear and whisper-shouted, "Las Vegas!"

My jaw dropped for a moment and Ray closed it for me while muttering, "I don't want to see those grapes again, silly."

I swatted Ray's hand away and smiled, "I have always wanted to go there!"

Ray smiled back and said, "Well then today is your lucky day."

"Would you like to do anything while we're in Vegas? Y'know, anything touristie?"

I smiled wider, "There are a ton of things I'd like to do in Vegas...but we probably won't have enough time to do it all." I finished, crestfallen at the end.

"We're spending four days in Vegas." Ray informed me.

My eyes grew wide, "Four days?!...Well, that's cuz you're doing at least two shows, right?"

Frank shook his head, "We're only playing one show in Vegas."

"Just one show?! Then why are you spending so many days in Sin City?"

"Every time we play in or near Las Vegas we blow through in like twenty-four hours or less. So we planned a few extra days here so we can experience as much as we can." Frank explained.

I nodded, "Cool beans." I mumbled as I popped some more grapes in my mouth.

"So...what do you want to do in Vegas?" Frank asked again.

"Well, I want to see the lions at MGM, ride the roller coaster at New York New York, go inside the 3 story M&Ms store, see the Belagio fountains show, window show at the Forum Shops in Ceaser's Palace, see the Mirage's volcano erupt, see the pirate show at Treasure Island, and go to the top of the Stratosphere." I listed off...and that wasn't even counting the things that cost money.

Ray's eyes widened, "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you wanted to do a lot."

I shrugged my shoulders, "Most of the things I want to do are free so it's in my budget and if you guys don't want to go then I can just do it on my own."

Frank shook his head, "No, you're not gonna go exploring on your own again. Not in this city and especially not after what happened in the last one."

"You don't have to be that protective over me. What happened in Santa Monica was a fluke and it's not gonna happen again." I said.

A sleepy looking Mikey stumbled into the front of the bus and asked, "What's not gonna happen again?" before he let out a wicked long yawn.

Frank glanced at me and said, "We'll talk about this later."

"Talk about what later?" Mikey asked, clearly confused.

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We arrived in Vegas a few hours later that day. By then, everyone in the bus was awake.

The bus didn't really cruise down the Las Vegas Strip like I thought it would. Instead, it quickly detoured before even going down it because the band had reservations at the first major hotel and casino on the right side of the Strip, the MGM Grand.

Checking in wasn't very exciting, the band's manager checked in for the band while we all stayed on the bus and got together our things. Then when things were settled, a few employees led us and our bags up to nearly the top of the hotel and helped us get settled in. But not without expecting some kind of tip.

I watched as Gerard handed the guy ten bucks from his wallet and the bag boy gave him a short glare. Even I knew it was customary to pay two bucks per bag and we had carted up at least twenty of them. Eventually the guy left, realizing he wasn't going to be paid any more and we were left alone.

"So what are we going to do our first night here?" Mikey asked as he glanced out the window at the view of a huge pool below.

"I say we check out the gambling scene." Gerard said.

"Marissa's not old enough to gamble." Ray pointed out.

"That's the point." Gerard grumbled.

"No, no, it's fine. You guys go gamble and I'll find something else to do." I said as I smiled.

"But what about what happened-?" Frank started, but I interrupted.

"It won't be like that this time." I said, "I'll be fine. Don't worry."

"Dude, she said she'll be fine. Now let's go before she changes her mind and decides to cling to us." Mikey said quietly.

I raised an eyebrow. Was that meant to be offensive?

"Just go. Have fun and try not to lose all your money in one night." I said, trying to push the band out the door.

"See? She just gave us a green light to go! So let's get going!" Mikey said as he smiled.

Once at the door, Frank turned around to face me, "Do you still have my cell phone?" he asked.

"Yes." I replied.

"Call Ray if there's an emergency." he told me.

"Will do." I said as I smiled lightly.

"C'mon man, let's go!" Mikey said as he doubled back, grabbed Frank by the collar, and began to pull him down the hallway to the elevator. "Bye Marissa!" he called.

"Bye guys!" I called back before I went back into the hotel room and shut the door behind me.

I walked into the room of the suite the guys had told me was mine and it was where my duffel bag was on the bed. I dug around in the pockets until I found that crunched up money I had found earlier and pocketed it. I didn't think I was going to need it, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. After I had my money, I made sure to grab a spare hotel key card and left the room.

I rode the elevator to the ground floor and quickly found the lions in the casino. There was this little glass archway people could walk through and see the lions in from all angles. I stood inside the archway and watched a trainer with one of the lions on the far side of their little habitat. What I wasn't expecting was a loud thumping sound. I looked all around, but I couldn't find the source. I noticed other tourists looking in my direction and pointing at somewhere above me so I looked up and found a lioness had decided to plunk down on the glass above my head and she was just lying there enjoying life.

When I had had my fill of the lions, I left the casino. Along the way, I passed the band where they were playing together at a craps table. I walked outside and down the street to where the M&Ms store was located not too far away. I entered the store and oogled at all the things they had for sale inside including every color of the rainbow in M&Ms. I could even get a bag of just my favorite colors to treat myself, but it was ten dollars a pound and I didn't want to spend my money now if I were going to need it for an emergency later.

As I climbed the floors of the store, I realized it was like a little tour through the history of the M&Ms company with purchasable items being dangled around every corner all along the way. I almost broke down as I found a plushie of the orange M&M. The orange one was always my favorite character in the commercials. The red one was too full of himself, the yellow one was a little too dumb for my taste, and the green chick was a little too...sexed up. The nervous, confused orange one was just too cute to pass up....that was until I checked the price. Twenty bucks for an orange pillow like plushie was just too rich for my blood especially on my current budget. All of my money would have been gone and I still didn't even have enough for the tax extra. So slowly, I put the little orange guy back on the shelf, turned, and walked away.

A few hours after I started my little adventure, I decided to go back to the hotel room. It was already 11pm and I was still tired from the past few days. I walked back to the hotel room and did my nightly routine in a matter of minutes before I collapsed on the full sized bed and quickly fell asleep.

The band arrived back to the room around 3am and they were loud enough to wake me up nearly seconds after they opened the door. Just by the sounds of their voices I knew they had taken advantage of the practically free drinks that were being brought to them throughout the night.

I didn't want to be rude and go out there and yell at them, but I was tired as hell and now that I had been woken up it was going to take forever to get back to sleep.

I muttered curse words to myself as I pulled myself out of bed and walked out to the living room of the ginormous suite the six of us were sharing. I walked straight up to Gerard and Mikey who seemed not only to be the loudest of them all, but the drunkest as well.

I took a deep breath, ready to tell them off and to shut the hell up when I was met with a sloppy kiss from Gerard merely seconds before he passed out on the couch.

"Okay, what the hell was that all about?!" I snapped.

"He was kind of drunk." Ray said from his spot in an armchair on the other side of the couch.

I raised an eyebrow, "Kind of drunk or really drunk?" I asked.

Ray, Frank, and Mikey were all quiet. None of them daring to answer my question.

"He's really, really, really drunk." Bob piped up.

'Well no shit.' I thought to myself, but answered with a much kinder, "I'll say." instead.

I turned back and walked back to my room.

"Wait, where are you going?" Frank asked.

I knew he was really asking 'Are you mad and are you going to leave?'

I turned back to him for a moment and sighed, "I've got to sleep on this." I said quietly before I walked back into my room and closed the door.