Marching Band

"They said I should try something else," she added, pulling the water bottle up to her mouth and swallowing a few milliliters. She wiped her lips with the back of get hand and smiled lightly at Zach. "But I went through with it, thinking that it's the easiest way to gain attention." 

He watched her every movement, confused as to why he was so fascinated about Pamela. It wasn't because she was a talented singing and instrument playing performer who was also blessed with a fairly attractive complexion; many girls could've slid into that category. There were probably hundreds of pretty girls posting videos of them singing over the internet. 

Pamela averted her brown eyes uncomfortable with the way he wad looking at her. It was as if she was an undeniably interesting science experiment - of course nobody else had ever looked at her like that before. She didn't mine the staring but it was the fact that how he looked that bothered her. To avoid any more awkward tension she said, "I know being a YouTube singer isn't glamorous but hey, I've gotten people's attention. I just need to be noticed, you get it?"

The latter sentence gained Zach's attention the  he stared in earnest curiousity and confusion at the young lady. He'd never conversed with anybody who was so dependent on themselves and very much thought success was the only thing available to grasp. "It does take time, you do know that," he said carefully. 

She snorted. "Of course I do. And while I wait until some good label finds me, I'll practice. Even the greatest singer have room for improvement." 

Pamela may have sounded particularly wise for a person get age but to Zach, who's had experience with being a music artist and fame, she was being stubborn and already expected too much of herself. Though he didn't say any of these things as he was afraid that his opinion might ruin this growing companionship between them. And he wanted to be much more than acquaintances. 

He shifted uncomfortably in the plastic seat he was in. Pam noticed his squeamish  gestures and coughed to avoid awkwardness. "So how does it feel to be in the hall of fame? And don't give me that you can't have privacy and it isn't all money and chicks because I've seen how celebrities are and they don't seem to be upset by being famous."

"Exactly." 

Zach laughed at her statement; he knew it varied with each person but most people weren't always fond of privacy invading cameras always one step behind. And what was so fantastic about people knowing who you were? They don't know you, they know the person singing their favourite songs, the person in those interviews, the person through the paparazzi's camera lenses. 

"What?" she said clearly confused. 

He smiled sympathetically her way. "It does look that way through the media doesn't it? Of course it's amazing and you get to have lots of fun but it can get ridiculous sometimes." His azure eyed stare warily at the uber confident girl sitting in front of him. "You'll realize it later on."

Pamela seemed content with his answer but realistically, she still had her strong opinion about the world of fame and fortune. She was set on her owns views and perspective and nobody would be able to change her way of thinking. He saw this in her serious expression but was smug about his next actions. He's heard about people like her and he wasn't just about to let het slip through his fingers. 

"Say," he murmured, "do you wanna hang out sometime? We can talk about this more." She sent him a reluctant rise of her brow and he tried going through this another way. "That's if you want to. And I can help you get noticed." That hit the jackpot - her smile returned and Zach found a new sense of confidence within him.

"Sure but don't get any ide-"

"Zach!" The pair's conversation was interrupted by the one and only Michael Martinez as the dark haired boy made his way towards them. The band's lead singer suppressed a groan and waved him over not realizing there was a girl trailing right beside his friend. "Hey people!"

The blue eyed one gave his ever beautiful smile to the newcomers. He stood up tugging Alexandra into a tight embrace. "Hey Alex," he exclaimed as they both pulled away. 

She glared at him for using the forsaken nickname though didn't plan to make a massive fuss about it knowing how Zach easily lost interest on those type of things. Nonetheless she flicked his nose before eyeing the girl beside him. 

Zach seemed to notice her quick interest in his companion as it wad part of Lex to be curious. It was a value of her closed book reputation - she was silent and observant. He chuckled to himself remembering that Alexandra had an appetite for cheek and mischief too. 

"Pamela this is Alexandra. And Lexi, this is Pam." He smirked proud that he was able to use the girl's nickname and without her permission. Pam noticed his obnoxious expression and sent him over an accentuated eye-roll. Zach pretended not to catch it and continued to smile. "She performed today."

The two girls acknowledged each other's presence with a small hello. The blue eyed singer offered a raise of an eyebrow at Pamela's shy greeting as he thought she would've come off more confident than that. From what he had experienced since meeting the young lady; she wasn't one to hide her true intentions (no matter how silly).

Michael quickly smoothed his way into the trio's conversation and the now quartet were soon embedded in a quiet serious debate over whose music taste was the best and how the certain era mattered during the time of the music. Alexandra was by far the most exotic out of the four, with her infatuation for indie bands, hardcore rock and pop songs from the 80's. 

They all laughed about and teased each other's kind of music, but nobody dared cross the line as to insult their favourite artists and make the other feel degraded. It came with being a musician - to learn and respect everyone else's opinions no matter how different you genre of music was. Not that only artists, anyone can and everyone should. 

Even from after the two hours of the many topics and subjects Pamela and Zach brushed through and dwelled upon, he was surprised that he still had a lot of things to learn about her. She sure was one hard attractive egg to crack. Zach tried to rid his mind of thoughts about how he'd do anything to be her boyfriend, when in reality she was the opposite of his dream girl.

He ran a hand through his dark hair, missing when he used to the longest and thinnest hair out of the band. Many fans made joked about him looking like an Asian woman and Michael even had the nerve to nickname his haircut 'mane'. Maybe it was a good idea to cut them after all. And now he didn't even have a fringe, which most fans have terribly missed, considering the percentage of people mentioning it.

"So since Cam obviously isn't coming, do you guys wanna crash at my place?" he murmured hoping that the other three would agree, specially Pam since he needed time to figure this girl out. 

His dimpled friend laughed, liberating the insanely cute dents on both cheeks. "Zach, dude, we live together." As if to push down his friend even further into the pool of shame, he ruffled his hair. "Remember?" Mikey winked at the two girls accompanying them, and they chuckled.

Zach slapped his band mate's hand away. "Thanks," he muttered dryly. Though once his azure tinted crystals reached the girl whom he's considering making into a closer friend, his gaze softened and while she smiled genuinely at him, hope spread throughout his entire system like a budgeted jumping from nerve to nerve.

"As much as I'd love to stay and chat some more with you, I'm busy today and tomorrow." She explained all that with an uneasy hurry, plus when she said she'd love to stay, not one second was her tone sincere. Zach's grin faltered and he realized it was all false hope. "Maybe you'll see me later yeah? Bye."

The girl - who Zach thought was the cause of all his nightmares and the girl of his dreams, if not, more - quickly jogged away, guitar case in right hand and a bottle of water in the other. He didn't even mind that Michael was intent on repetitively nudging him on the elbow. He just shrugged each physical movement off, knowing it wasn't more important than the plan he was concocting.

"Oooh Zachary's got a crush," Michael sang, beginning to poke at his best friend's sides. Nothing worked until Alexandra decided to step up to the plate and gained the lovesick boy's attention with just a little shout and a simple snap of her fingers. "Well finally, lover-boy is back into the real world." The words just seemed to muddle and just blur into one blob of nothing. "Come on, Zach!"