Love is a Luxury

“Oh my Gosh, I’m so glad your back!” Serena screamed as we entered the terminal. I laughed and hugged her.

“Me too, it’s been weird not seeing you guys everyday,” I replied and looked at Pat, who was holding a sign that said ‘BITCHES’.

“I didn’t wanna write down everyone’s names, so I figured this would be the next best thing,” he explained. I laughed, hugged him, and kissed his cheek.

“It’s awesome, without a doubt.” I made my hug rounds and walked with everybody down to baggage claim, where everyone got their luggage and made their way to the Excursion they rented to pick everyone up in.

We threw our bags in the back and made our way to the venue. We were in Iowa for the day, and would be due to go on about the time we arrived. Jared was driving, and pushing down the accelerator. We made it in record time and arrived just before Never Growing Up was about to go on. I was super excited to be able to play drums again, and the fact that I didn’t have to worry too much about Colby in the back of my mind while playing was even more amazing.

We finished our first song. “It’s good to see all of you!” Jimmie shouted into the mic. “We’ve been gone for a while, but we’re back now and everything’s all right. We got a lot of your emails and MySpace comments and I just wanted to say that each and every one of you is fucking amazing for caring so much. Thanks guys, this next song’s called Hold My Breath, and it goes a lot like this!” We finished the set and walked off stage. I went backstage and got a water out of the fridge.

“LIVY!” Hayley shouted and leapt into my arms. “I’ve missed you!” She jumped back down.

“I know, I’m so stoked to be back,” I smiled at her.

“So are you ready for tomorrow?” She beamed. I gave her a questioning look. “Oh, come on. You mean to tell me you forgot the fourth of July was coming up? It’s gonna be sick, we’re having this like, huge party.” She was right. Today was July the third. I honestly didn’t know how I could have forgotten.

“Shit, uh, I guess so,” I gave out a light laugh.

“Awesome,” she high fived me. “I wanna help you get ready though.” With that she walked out the door.

Help me get ready? I was just going to wear shorts and a shirt. Unless… that bitch was going to try to get me into a dress. Shit.

---

“Turn around,” Serena sad.

“I hate you,” I scowled at her. Turns out not only Hayley was helping, but Serena and Alex’s girlfriend, Lisa, were as well. They pretty much almost had to hold me down and force me into the light blue lacy dress. It was strapless and about mid-thigh in length with a piece of black lace running across the stomach.

To go with the dress, they had me put on a pair lace tights with floral designs in them, and a pair of black lace up high heels.

“You look amazing though. Now let me do your makeup,” she pushed me onto the toilet and went to work.

She put everything from eye shadow to lip gloss on me—two things I never wore. I was always just me, my eyeliner, and my mascara.

Next she started on my wavy hair, curling my hair into ringlets and putting it into a low, side ponytail. She topped it off with a black headband with a bow on top.

“These have to go,” she tapped on my Batman plugs. She pulled my ‘jewelry’ box—when I saw jewelry, I mean my plugs and one pair of studs—out of the top drawer in the bathroom. After rifling through it for a good thirty seconds, she pulled out my red leopard print plugs. “I know they’re red and the dress is blue, but I think it will look good, besides the contradiction.” I sighed and put them in.

“So, I’m guessing you wanna wear your ring?” She asked, twirling it in her fingers. I nodded and she handed it to me. “Are you sure you wanna wear your necklace too?” She looked at it skeptically.

“Serena, I love you, and you know it, and I know you’re only trying to help me out through these past years, but getting rid of the necklace won’t make me forget any less than I do now. It’s etched in my memory, and I just can’t lose it now,” I took the chain from her hand.

“I know, I’m sorry,” she sighed.

She went to finish getting dolled up. When she got done, she looked gorgeous. She wore a simple red dress with a bow around the torso and ended mid-thigh. She had on a pair of black, peep-toe heels, and her dark hair was straightened.

Hayley put on a purple spaghetti strapped dress that was about knee length. She teased her hair perfectly, and finished with heels to match.

Lisa’s dress was black, knee-length, and spaghetti strapped. Her hair was scrunched, and her black flats were an adorable match with her outfit.

The boys were off somewhere as we stayed in the bus another thirty minutes. Then the thought occurred to me. “Where’s Brooklyn?”

“My bus,” Hayley said. “Josh and her have a thing now,” she shuddered. I giggled and pulled my phone out of my clutch to reveal a text from Jimmie. R U guys ready yet??

I tried to reply with a ‘yeah’, but the fake nails they had put on me almost made it impossible. “DAMNET!” I shouted as I hit the backspace button for the hundredth time. “Let’s go,” I grumbled, hitting send, and throwing the phone back into my clutch.

We walked into the parking lot to find all the guys, Brooklyn, and Lacey. “Oh, wow,” John said as I made my way out of the bus. I blushed, hugged him, and kissed him on the cheek.

“Why aren’t you guys dressed up like us?” I asked, noticing they were in their regular street clothes.

“We made a bet while you guys were gone that is Pat went a day without being on the phone that we would dress up all fancy and shit, and if Hayley went a day without saying ‘like’, without using it properly in a sentence, that you guys would have to dress up,” Caleb explained.

“Now I really hate you,” I said to Hayley, earning a cheesy grin from her.

“It’s not that bad,” Serena patted my back. I mumbled profanities under my breath and trudged away with everyone.

“The beach? Really?” I asked as I walked onto the white sand.

“Not exactly. We’re in Wisconsin, making this Lake Michigan, but some people call it the beach,” Zac explained.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, kicking off my shoes and walking with them hanging in my hands.

We approached a bon fire with several chairs and acoustic guitars setting around it. John sat down and pulled me into his lap. “You look really pretty tonight,” he whispered. I blushed and let out a thanks.

Jimmie picked up a guitar, as did Jack, Jared, and Josh. Pretty soon, the familiar intro of ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’ by Bob Dylan filled my ears.

“Sing it with me,” Caleb told me

“Well, it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe, if you don't know by now. And it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe, it'll never do somehow. When your rooster crows at the break of dawn, look out your window and I'll be gone. You're the reason I'm traveling on, but don't think twice, it's all right.”

Next they played ‘Good Riddance’ by Green Day, ‘When The Stars Go Blue’ by Ryan Adams, ‘Coffee Shop Soundtrack’ by All Time Low, and ‘Into Your Arms’ by The Maine.

Hayley, Serena, Lisa, and I all got up to go for a walk as we watched the fireworks pop overhead. “Here,” Hayley said, throwing some type of clothing at me as we found a group of trees to hide behind. “We’re going swimming.”

“You carry around my swimsuit in your bag? Now I have a feeling I know where all my bras went.”

She laughed. “You can thank Jack and Alex for the missing bras. I just threw that in there right before we left.” I sighed and started to pull off my dress.

“Don’t look at me!” I shrieked, earning giggles from the girls. I got changed into the blue bikini and threw everything into Hayley’s backpack.

Instead of walking on the sand back to the fire, I walked to the water and eased my way towards where the boys were swimming about thirty yards away. As I approached them from my crouched, almost unnoticeable, stature, I ducked underwater where I grabbed John’s leg and nipped it, just to scare him. He screamed and jumped.

As I came up from the water, I was laughing so hard, I almost choked. He pushed me over and I collapsed into the water, still laughing. “I fucking hate you,” he mumbled as I recovered from my giggle fit and stood up.

“Aw, poor baby,” I wrapped my arms around him as he pouted. At that time, Jeremy came running at us, tackling us into the water before either of us knew what was going on.

I jumped up and pounced on Jeremy, waiting for him to get me off his back, when I felt someone pick me up from under my arms. I turned to see Garrett, who was trying his hardest to pry me off.

Then he did the unthinkable. Next thing I knew, I jumped off of Jeremy’s back, swimsuit strings in hand. As I hurried to tie them back before anyone saw me, Garrett took off running. When I finally had the strings to my top double knotted, I tried my hardest to run back to Garrett, but every guy in the water deemed it to make it impossible for me to reach him as he ducked behind Lisa.

As the boys tried to hold me back, I struggled against them, finally breaking free and jumping on Garrett as Lisa got out of the way. He slung me over his shoulder, taking me further out into the water and threw me into it.

“This is war, Nickelsen,” I growled and started splashing him, only to get the gesture returned.

“Who wants s’mores?” Someone by the fire shouted. This caught not only my attention, but Garrett’s as well. We stopped immediately and took off towards land, pushing each other as we went. Rian held out two in his hands for us as we ran up to him, snatching up the food and eating it in seconds.

“Pot heads…” Rian mumbled and walked away, shaking his head as he did. We laughed at him and got back in the water, only this time more civil and not fighting with each other.

“Where’s John?” I asked the group that was talking in the water.

“I don’t know. I think we went to go take a piss or something,” Kennedy said. I nodded. All of a sudden, someone picked me up bridal style, scaring me. I turned my head to see John, who had a smirk plastered across his face. I quickly pecked his lips as he put me back down. He stood behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Gross,” Josh said, taking a swig of his beer.

“Oh, hush,” I said. The fireworks were still going on, making me jump almost every time they exploded. “Guys, I’m going back to the bus,” I said just loud enough for everyone to hear. I rushed out of the water, grabbed a towel from Serena, and almost ran back to Never Growing Up’s tour bus.

I quickly snatched off the swimsuit and put on a baggy shirt and some basketball shorts. I crawled into my bunk and Ozzy hopped into the bed with me. I held onto my necklace as I cried.

“Shh, Honey, it’s okay,” Serena rubbed my back.

“Where’s Olivia? Is she okay?” I heard John panting. “What’s going on with her?”

“John, relax, she’s fine. She’s just having a hard time.” I cried into the pillow harder, gripping handfuls on sheets and pounding my fists into the mattress. After bawling for a good thirty minutes, my tears finally slowed down. I quickly wiped my eyes, imagining I looked like a raccoon from my makeup running.

“Are you okay?” John asked. I just nodded and looked at Serena.

“Get me a beer, please?”