Pretty Little Wallflower

“Hey there Kool-Aid man,” Mike greeted Tony when he stepped into their small kitchen. His hair was a mess and he looked frazzled, the product of a barely memorable night.
“Kool-Aid man?” Tony questioned, rubbing the balls of his palms against his eyes, trying to remember what time he went to bed.
“That’s what you looked like last night, with Viola,” Mike grinned. Tony’s eyes went wide. The last thing he remembered was taking shots with Adam, but he couldn’t remember Viola.
“Shit, what happened? She was here?!”
“No, I’m talking about the Copper Onion. She didn’t come to the party; actually, I’m not even sure where she was.” Tony let out a breath in relief, quickly being greeted by his own morning breath. He scrunched his face in disgust.
“I’m an embarrassment to myself. Why did we even drink last night? Worst idea ever,” he grabbed a coffee mug from the cupboard, filling it with the coffee Mike had made. The smell settled his uneasy stomach, and he hoped he wouldn’t vomit again.
“No you’re not, you just gotta have balls! You barely even talked to her and you were sitting in front of her the whole time.” Tony couldn’t believe that Mike never had hangovers, but after years of partying together, it should have came as no surprise. He always joked that his blood had been replaced with hard liquor, but Tony was beginning to believe it.
“I asked her one question, and she replied like she was annoyed.”
“That’s how she is though, you heard Adam. I was talking to him last night, she just talks like that. She’s weird like that,” Mike tried to ease Tony’s discomfort with the situation. He didn’t want to read too much into it, considering he barely knew her, but felt like he was getting nowhere with her.
“What are you ladies talking about,” Vic walked into the kitchen in only his boxers and a sock on his right foot.
“Well good morning, precious,” Mike greeted him as Vic threw him a kiss, “We’re talking about Viola.”
“What about her?” Vic asked. Tony shot Mike a look, hoping he wouldn’t say anything. He didn’t want everyone to know and end up making things even more awkward than he already was.
“Just wondering where she was last night,” Mike answered, wiggling his eyebrows at Tony, who just rolled his eyes.
“Adam had said she didn’t really drink, I guess she went back to her bus. We should probably get ready to go check out what time we play." The boys nodded, and Mike decided to go wake Jaime up while Tony showered.
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Viola stepped out of the bus, adjusting her sunglasses on her face. It was only ten in the morning, but the Utah heat was already making her sweat. She immediately regretted staying up the night before getting to know all the other photographers, as the heat was beginning to make her weary.
“Good morning muchacha,” Jaime called out to her. The four boys approached the bus.
“Hey guys, how’re ya feeling?” She smirked. They all looked a little drained, she was sure they drank enough to fall into an alcohol induced stupor. She went up to each of them and gave them a hug, individually greeting them. Tony’s stomach did flips when she got to him. He gave her a quiet ‘hey’ before he embraced her, her perfume filling up his nostrils. She smelled wonderful to him, and he could’ve stayed that way forever if it was up to him. He smiled shyly at her when he finally released her, but she just gave him a generic smile.
“We may have gotten a little carried away,” Vic laughed, “we’ll probably refrain from partying on the first night next time.”
“Sounds like a smart idea,” she nodded. “So what time do you guys play today, do you know?”
“Yeah, at 3:45, but we have meet and greet at eleven, and some interviews after our set.”
“Whoa, that’s intense, I didn’t think you’d be so busy.”
“What are you doing though,” Tony mustered up some confidence to ask her.
“I was told I’m photographing the Kia Soul Stage until 5, then the acoustic basement until 8,” she smiled. Tony smiled content with himself.
“That’s where we’re playing!” Jaime smiled. “You’ll get to see me be sexy onstage.” Viola laughed as he ran his hands over his body.
“Well I’ll see you guys there then, I gotta go fill up some water bottles and explore before I’m posted in the heat all day.” She gave everyone a quick hug, feeling Tony’s hands linger over her a second longer than she felt necessary, and she walked away with a quick pace.

Viola had been mulling over what Adam had insinuated when they first got to their bus, taking into account Tony’s actions. For some reason she couldn’t get him out of her mind. He made her feel self-conscious, she could feel her palms sweat a little more and she suddenly cared about how she looked when he was around. It made her uncomfortable and frankly, she didn’t like it. There was no reason for her to feel differently around a guy she barely knew, especially one who barely even talked to her. She thought back to moments earlier, when she was hugging him, from how warm he felt to his hands around her waist. The parts of her body where his hands had been burned now, as well as parts where she now wished he would have touched. Viola shook her head, mentally slapping herself for having such salacious thoughts. She took a deep breath trying to calm herself, and continued to walk around the venue as kids were beginning to fill it.