Girl, I Don't Know What You See, You're More Than Just a Mannequin to Me

After we got back I left the guys to find a secluded corner of the huge parking lot to pull out my song book and begin to write.

I felt so overwhelmed lately. What with everybody telling me to be with Alex and break up with Peyton. I felt like if I wrote a song about Peyton and signal everything else out then I would know how I truly felt.

I was having some trouble.

“What’s up, girlie?”

I looked up to see John O’Callaghan plopping himself down next to me. His eyes glinted in the sun. Despite how I was feeling at the moment, he never failed to make me smile just from the sight of him.

“Just tryna write,” I gestured to the book. “What about you?”

“I’ve come to overview your writing,” he gave me a cheesy grin and took the book from me. I tried to stop him, but he read aloud what I had so far.

”I tried finding you at the bottom of a bottle, but you weren’t there to comfort me. I tried going to sleep, but I couldn’t even find you in my dreams. I feel like Dorothy, so lost from home. Wow. This is a sad song.”

I leaned over and took the book back out of his hands.

“Yeah, well…It’s probably not that good, anyway. It’s kind of just scraps.” I blushed.

John scooted over to me. “No, it’s good, girlie.” He looked over at my shoulders. “How about, ’Never have I ever felt so alone’?”

I gave him a small smile and jotted down the line.

“Is this too rhyme-y?” I asked him.

“No, I like it.”

We sat there and he helped me right the song. Normally it would take me a couple days to write one, but with his help we finished it within a couple hours.

“Okay, now sing it to me,” John instructed me.

“I don’t know,” I blushed. “I don’t think this is a song I was going to release.”

John tapped my on the leg.

“Why not?”

“Well, it’s kind of personal…”

“Those are the best kinds of songs, girlie.” He stood up and brushed off his pants. “Care to join me on The Maine bus?”

I took his outstretched hand and let him pull me up. I wiped off my dress and followed him.

“Hey, Pat’s on a lunch run, I told him to get you a sandwich,” Garrett said when we climbed onto the bus. “What’s up, Cayne?”

“The sky,” I giggled. He shook his head at my cheesy joke. I went and plopped down next to him.

“Hey, gorgeous,” I smiled, wrapping an arm around Kennedy. “How you doin’?” I did a mock expression of Joey from Friends.

Kennedy kept a straight face as he looked back at me. “You and me at two?”

I giggled.

“So, I haven’t really hung out with you guys lately,” I said, retracting my arm.

“Yeah, seriously Cayne. You’ve been totally shoving us aside,” Jared said in fake disdain. He ruined it though by taking a bite from a churro.

“I’m soooorry. It was my boyfriend, Peyton. He has this thing about stealing me from all of my friends, but I sent him home. So I’m yours for the rest of the summer, love.” I gave him a grin.

“Sounds like a dick,” Kennedy commented.

“No, no, he’s just a jealous kinda guy,” I defended.

“Major dick then,” Jared said, still chewing on his churro.

I sighed. “So, have you guys got any lovely ladies?” I asked, trying to get the spotlight off of me and my love life.

“I met this girl, her name is Riley,” Garrett grinned like a kid on Christmas. “And Kennedy is obsessed with this chick Izzie – “

“I am not obessed.”

“ – but they’re not dating. And you are so obsessed, Kennedy, don’t lie.”

Kennedy crossed his arms and poked his tongue out at Garrett.

“Where are the churros?” John asked, digging around in cabinets.

“They’re in the back room,” Jared said. “Sorry, we were just back there practicing on that new song.”

“Nah, it’s cool.” John disappeared for a moment then came back with two churros in his hand. He handed one to me. I smiled gratefully at him and took a bite. “Mmm.”

“So Cayne wrote a totally cool new song today,” John bragged. I blushed.

“It’s not totally cool…” I trailed off.

“Oh come on. You’ve been signed for how many years and you’re still all shy and blushy about you’re music?” Jared squeezed my cheek.

“Shut up,” I laughed.

“No, seriously, though, you should record that one,” John told me. I shrugged.

After some more bantering, I went back to the bus. I thought about what John had said.

“I wrote a new song, guys…”