Southern Constellations

"Happy birthday!" Really loud voices pierced my eardrums. They were lucky that I had been to concerts every night. If not, I probably would've died.

I groaned, but opened my eyes hesitantly. Before me, I saw Jack, Jesse, Kellin, Tinika, Gabe, Tino, Alan, Justin, Phil, Austin, Vic, Tony, Mike, and Jaime. I couldn't keep the smile off of my face.

I never took a liking towards my birthday, but it wasn't as bad when I was around my family. Wasn't that how it was supposed to be?

I climbed out of Austin's bunk, and hugged Kellin tightly. "Thank you." I mumbled against his chest.

He smiled. "Hurry and get dressed!" He yelled, a smile upon his face.

I laughed, and pushed my way through the crowd of people.

I took advantage of the bus I was currently on, and took a long, needed shower. Once I was finished, I wrapped a towel around my body.

Tinika knocked on the door, and walked into the bathroom. "I've got your stuff." She smiled, and laid my tooth brush, and an outfit on the sink.

I quickly thanked her, as she walked out. I brushed my teeth, and got dressed. Tinika picked out my clothes. I should've known.

I stared into the small pier glass. My body was covered with a knee length dress. The part that covered my breasts was covered in blank sparkles. A bow with of couple small, black gems separated the bottom part, which was black silk. Black lace tights under my dress, and a pair of sparkly black flats to match.

Another knock on the door tore me from my examination of the beautiful dress that didn't belong on my horrendous body. Tinika walked in again, and grinned.

"I've gotta' do your hair." She giggled, and grabbed my wrist.

Everyone else had left the van. I was curious to what they were doing. It was too early for any shows yet.

"What's all this for?" I asked, becoming curious as Tinika sat me down.

"Your birthday, silly." She replied, smiling.

She was being way to nice for my liking. "I can do this myself, y'know." I stated, as she plugged in the curling iron.

She shook her head. "You would've straightened it." She said.

I nodded. "When I straighten my hair, I look slightly decent."

"And when you curl it perfectly you look beautiful."

I blushed a little. "Will you stop keeping secrets from me?" I asked, becoming impatient.

She chewed her lip, but sighed as she started curling my hair. "I'm not keeping secrets. I'm going to surprise you, duh!" She laughed.

I chuckled. "Fair enough." I said. "But should I be worried?" I asked, pointing to my dress.

She shook her head again. "Nope. You'll like it, promise."

I sighed again, as she got to work on my hair. Once she was finished, and my hair was in perfect ringlets, I quickly did my eye makeup to correspond with my outfit, although it wasn't much different than any other day. Black and silver.

Once I was finished, Tinika smoothed out the back of my dress. She made sure that she smoothed out every crevice of my appearance. Once she was done, she stripped herself of her clothes, and put on a mid-thigh length, blue dress. She wore black tights under it, and blue Converse. She did her makeup, and curled her hair as well. She looked absolutely flawless.

"One more thing." She smiled, and grabbed something from her bag. She placed something in my hand, and put something else around her neck.

As I opened my hand, I slowly recognized the chain with the anchor on it. A smile found its way to my lips as I fastened it around my neck. She had the same exact symbol on her chest as well.

"How do you still have these?" I asked, chuckling, and holding the anchor between my thumb and forefinger.

"Your mom had them. She gave them to me just before tour." She answered, a smile on her lips as well. "Fifteen years." She mumbled. "I've known you for fifteen years, it makes me feel old." She said, laughing a little.

"You're twenty one." I said, smiling. "You were in second grade, I was in first. I remember it." I laughed.

"And we got these," she pointed to her necklace. "In middle school. Right before we were suspended for throwing things at the dean."

We both chuckled. "Now, come on." She grabbed my hand, and walked outside.

"Happy birthday!" Everyone yelled, causing me to turn scarlet.

Jesus christ. Everyone was here. Asking Alexandria, Pierce The Veil, Sleeping With Sirens, Of Mice & Men, Miss May I, Chelsea Grin, Motionless In White, Falling In Reverse, Blood On The Dance Floor, and Jefree Star.

All of them.

My Family

I was almost in tears. I had never been so overwhelmed in my life.

"I hate you so much." I mumbled to Tinika as we made our way towards the guests.

She laughed. "No you don't." She stated, smiling. Our hands still connected, we greeted them all.

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"Get dressed." Tinika thew a book bag at me, grabbing some clothes from it, and slipping into the bathroom of the Asking Alexandria tour bus.

I felt relieved as I pulled out a pair of skinny jeans, and a My Chemical Romance tank top. I did as told, and Tinika walked out of the bathroom.

"Your fake ID's in there too." She winked at me. "The one from high school. I managed to steal it back from Kellin." She chuckled, and laced up the Converse she had already been wearing before, and tossed me a pair of Toms.

"Hurry up." She said, walking outside. "We're running behind!" She called as she closed the door of the tour bus.

I laughed, and followed her. "Where are we going?" I asked, becoming confused as I caught up with her.

She smiled broadly. "MCR concert." She answered.

My jaw dropped. "You're kidding, right?" I asked, laughing a bit.

She shook her head.

"Bro, tell me your kidding."

She laughed, and shook her head again. "We're going to a My Chemical Romance concert." She repeated, her smile still in place.

I squealed like a small child. "OHMYGOD! We're going to see MCR!" I screamed, causing Tinika to laugh at me as we got into the taxi.

She told the driver the name of the venue, and it was slowly becoming harder to contain my energy. Both of my knees bouncing, I but my lip nervously.

Tinika pulled the tickets from her back pocket, and handed one to me. She then pulled something else from her pocket, and hung it around my neck along with the Anchor.

Backstage passes.

"I love you so much!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around her neck.

She laughed. "I love you too."

As we listened to the amazing lyrics and melodies, everything seemed to fade alway. My past, my problems...Vic...everything.

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Surprisingly, neither of us had drank at all. We were too busy screaming lyrics to do so. Tinika waved goodbye to me, as she entered the OM&M bus. I began walking towards the SWS bus, but was stopped.

"Happy birthday," Vic mumbled, smiling.

I bit my lip, and giggled. "Thanks." I said, blushing.

"Can I give you my present now?" He asked, hopeful.

I turned scarlet. "You shouldn't have gotten me anything." I stated, staring at our feet.

"You'd be worth every penny in the world." He complimented me.

If possible, I turned an even darker shade of red. He grabbed my face gently in his hands, and moved his face so his was inches away from mine.

My chest rose and fell rapidly, my heart beating against my ribs. I wasn't sure why I was so nervous. I wanted this, I wanted to kiss him. But not like this. Not while I had these mixed feelings and emotions.

"Don't move," he mumbled, his breath hitting my face. He inched closer to me, our lips barely grazing each others.

Out of pure lust, I shoved my lips against his. It was as if time had stopped. I didn't want to move. I wanted our lips to stay together. It felt so right. I loved him, but I hated him at the same time. He made me hurt. Not only mentally, but physically.

I groped his chest, and quickly pushed him away. "I have to go." I lied, quickly closing the door to the SWS bus. I was relived to see that everyone was sleeping.

Oh.
My.
God.