'Cause Baby I'm a Dreamer for Sure

My dream; work in a recording studio, live a happy life with my amazing job of meeting and working with many different bands. At least that's how I imagined my life to go. My life is pretty happy; I am living my own life rather than one my parents choose, I even have an awesome roommate, my job on the other hand is not so great. I may get to work with a bunch of talented artists, but the guy I work under is a complete jerk. I'm a paid intern and have been placed under the watchful eye of the studio's worst employee, Mr. Horace Lampton.

Towards the bands Lampton is decent, but towards me he is a living nightmare. All he ever does is yell and curse at me, even when I do exactly what he wants, I've done something wrong. I actually hate my job, but I could never tell my parents that, they would want me to quit and follow their dream, so telling them was out of the question. I could tell Ben, Julie, and Lacey though. Ben and Julie have been my friends for years and always have my back and Lacey, my roommate, and Johnathan's sister, immediately became my best friend when we spent the entire first night of my arrival talking the night away and listening to music. Those three people have my back no matter what I can always vent to them. Even Johnathan hates the way I'm treated, he tries to have my back at work when he gets a break even if it doesn't always work out, but it's the thought that counts.

Right now I actually had a small break from Mr. Lampton while he waited for the next band. They were apparently very popular, but I wasn't allowed to know who it was. I never knew until they walked in and I've been here for over a month now, Lampton thinks that it's none of my business since I'm just an intern, he thinks my job is to set things up, get him coffee, and sit quietly and touch nothing because I know nothing about the equipment. Which isn't true of course, Johnathan made sure I knew everything I possibly could when I got here and I remembered pretty much everything, but in Lampton's eyes I was a nobody and good for nothing. It kind of ticks me off too, because I may not be sure of everything going on in my life, but I know I'm good for something, I just haven't found it yet. Yeah that's right, I just quoted Mayday Parade, they help me get through each day.

My time alone was coming to an end for I could hear Lampton's deep annoying voice echoing down the hall, but I didn't pay much attention to it, instead I lost myself in the last guitar I had to tune. I had finished everything Lampton asked of me and once the guitar was tuned I couldn't resist and had to play it. The chords came out and beautifully arranged into the song I'd play for hours at a time, and then I began to sing. "I Swear This Time I Mean It" by Mayday Parade rang out into the room; I had just gotten to the second verse when I looked up and saw Lampton's red face glaring at me.

"Holton! What, what do you think you're doing!?" Lampton was furious and I had to admit with him this angry I was a bit frightened. "I told you to tune the guitars, and get all the equipment ready and I come back to find you playing and disobeying my orders!"

"Mr. Lampton, I did get the equipment ready. Everything's set and ready to play." I said placing the guitar down and leaving the recoding part of the room to stand in front of Mr. Lampton, who was trying to keep his mouth under control and not curse at me in front of the band, I'd yet to look at.

"I'll let you off this time Holton, but just this once." He turned to the band then, throwing me out of the picture as I stared at my shoes and orange dress. "Please excuse my intern, she's new and always makes mistakes, also you'll have to excuse me while I run and talk to a coworker." He said before heading out of the room.

"It's fine, we'll just get ready." One of the band members called after Lampton's retreating form and I recognized that voice immediately. I slowly looked up to the five people in front of me, taking in each of their faces before my eyes landed on the one who spoke, Derek Sanders. A smile tugged at my lips as I looked into his gorgeous eyes. "So it sounds like you're a fan of ours." He said smiling at me sweetly. "And it also sounds like your boss is a complete jerk too. No offense if you enjoy working under him of course." A laugh escaped my lips at that last comment.

"No offense taken, he's the worst boss anyone could ever ask for. He's rude to everyone and thinks his way is the best." I said a true smile on my lips for the first time since I started here. "Oh, and yeah, I'm a huge fan of Mayday. Your music helps me through each day."

"Glad we can help." Derek was still smiling at me and I couldn't look away. "So, I'm assuming you know who everyone is then?" He questioned while gesturing to his band mates.

"Of course, what type of fan would I be if I didn't know you were Derek Sanders, Jeremy Lenzo, Alex Garcia, Jake Bundrick, and Brooks Betts." I looked and pointed to each as I said their name confidently, that was until I looked at Brooks, then my confidence faltered and I'm sure I wore a goofy smile as I looked into Brooks eyes. He just looked back at me and wore a shy smile.

"Looks like you got a fan Brooksy." Jake teased nudging Brooks some. Brooks didn't look away from me though; he continued to look into my eyes as he replied with a simple "yeah". I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks and was grateful when Derek spoke drawing everyone's attention.

"Alright, guys we need to get ready before that guy comes back. Oh and what was your name?" Derek said.

"Annamarie Holton, but you can just call me Annie, and that guy I work for is Mr. Lampton." I said as sweetly as I could speaking Lampton's name.

"Right, nice to meet you Annie." Derek held out his hand to me and I took it, before him and his band members went to work. Everyone was in the sound booth setting the instruments where they wanted it while I sat in a chair waiting for Lampton's arrival. I was looking at my phone, texting Julie, when someone sat beside me, making me jump.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." It was Brooks.

"It's fine, can I help you?" I asked trying to act normal when my heart was racing. I had always liked Brooks, and eventually earned a major fan crush on him. It was hard to believe he was sitting right next to me.

"No, I finished setting up my stuff and the guys didn't need help so I decided to come talk to you." He wore that shy, but sweet smile again. "You looked like you needed some company."

"Awe that's sweet Brooks, thanks." We just kind of sat there for a moment, staring into each other’s eyes before Brooks decided to look away and mess with the bracelet on his arm, one that looked awfully familiar, but when I was about to ask, he spoke first.

"So, is Annamarie your first name or first and middle?" He asked awkwardly. I just smiled sweetly.

"It's my first name, my middle is Alexandra."

"Why do you shorten it, it's such a beautiful name." He still refused to look at me and I'm glad because I was blushing like mad.

"It's just so long, so I shorten it and tell people they can too."

"So you wouldn't mind me using your whole name?" He finally looked up at me again.

"No." I said sheepishly. No one had ever wanted to use my full name before it was touching and I couldn't help but smile at his words.

"Well then, Annamarie it is." He said happily returning my smile, before we heard footsteps coming down the hall and Lampton's voice returning.

"Well, I better go back to the band, so I don't get you in trouble." Brooks stated slowly rising from his seat and heading back to the sound booth. He turned back to look at me when he reached the door. "Oh Annamarie, I like your dress." He said with a smile and disappeared into the room.

I stared at the spot he stood a minute longer before I looked through the glass separating the rooms to find him still looking at me. I tore my eyes away from him and down to my phone to text Julie and Lacey about what just happened. A smile gracing my features as I did so.