I'll Be There

Guns and Motley played the festival as planned, me in the audience as Nikki’s biggest fan then backstage as Dj’s apprentice rig manager. I nearly had a heart attack when Axl tripped on Sweet Child, but he made a halfway decent recovery and the band didn’t miss a beat. I was amazed he managed that, even though he messed up the lyrics. I was proud of the singer. However, the media wasn’t as impressed. Dj had to take my phone away to stop me from making any more bad tweets.
Soon the tour was over before I even knew it. Dj of course, being the amazing guy he was, had already planned more gigs and events. He even took me to The Tour in LA. Now I was hanging out in his car in Detroit. This was one of his planned events, a fan greet at NASCAR promoting his Challenger, which could now be custom ordered. He said he would get me one on my birthday. I was stoked, and hadn’t stopped playing with his since. It was early in the morning still, and he was outside talking to one of the event managers. I hooked up my Bluetooth and played some Linkin Park through the speakers of the new car. It must have been loud because Dj glanced back at me from outside. He came back a few minutes later and got in, staring at his radio. “What the hell is that?” He asked. I grinned with a look in my eyes that dared him to cross me. “Linkin Park’s last album Thousand Suns.” I said with dignity. He sighed and drove off to the dome, where we would hang until the race. We hung out in what looked like a private festival camp. Dj being the way he is, there were endless supplies of Jager and Monster, and there were limited bottles of water.
Pretty soon people started showing up. I stayed in a corner quietly observing. He introduced his effects guy and some other fans that had come, but I wasn’t interested. They weren’t my fans, and they weren’t here for me. I figured I would just let him do his thing and stay out of the way. I grabbed a Monster and cautiously weaved my way back to my corner seat. I had just taken a slow sip when a woman stood before me. I glanced up at her with an annoyed twinkle in my green eyes. “Raven Sixx” she said with a genuine smile, throwing her hand out to me. I shook it gently and replaced my grasp firmly on my sweating can. “Are you alright, you look a bit lonely.” She said to me, trying to be polite as possible. I sighed silently and forced a smile. “Fine, thanks.” I lied. She shook her head in disbelief. “Oh! I’m sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I’m Heather. Would you like to meet some friends of mine?” I blinked slowly, feeling the heat get to me, and wondered why a bunch of Dj’s fans could possibly want to meet me. “Sure.” I agreed nonchalantly, standing up finally.
As promised, she introduced me to some friends of hers, which was apparently every fan there. I was surprised at the distance they came from just to be at this boring event. It turns out it wasn’t that bad. Once I let my stubborn guard down I had some fun with the “Ashba Family” and Dj. My world was expanding once again, and I noticed how happy he was to be here. Why make his devoted fans pay to get backstage for 5 minutes when they could come and meet him for free? My outlook on this entire lifestyle was beginning to change thanks to him. I never stopped thinking about what Nikki told me either; we are all equal. I finally found a bookstore that night and got my own copy like he said. I read it through the night. Maybe I had been wrong all along. Maybe once I finally got used to this life, I would realize it’s not so different after all.