Sequel: Punk Rox! Book II ›
Status: COMPLETED
Punk Rox!
Famous People...!
“Jess?” My mother’s voice came in through the bathroom door.
“Yeah?” I answered, examining my hair and extremely light blue eyes. I usually straighten my hair, but I have to admit, it’s kind of cute all curly like it is right now. But I’d never go out in public like this. I won’t even let my parents see me like this. Only one other person has seen me this way and that was Ethan. When you’ve known someone as long as we’ve known each other, you start to see things...
Fuck, I swear I’ve seen him naked at least five times by now. BY MISTAKE! Course, he was no better... He couldn’t have seen me more than twice with no clothes. After the first time, I began taking very careful precautions to make sure that didn’t happen again. Like, locking the damn door. The second time was because I forgot to lock the door and he came in, froze, and mindlessly turned back around. It was kind of funny actually.
A lot of people wonder if I’m wearing contacts because of the odd color of my eyes. I’m not. My eyes are practically white. It’s not that I’m complaining, but they look ghostly. Ever seen Let Me In? Know how vampire girl’s eyes turned that crazy blue when she went all blood-sucker-mode? That’s about a good summary of what my eyes look like, unintentionally, but it just popped into my head.
It definitely throws people off. Sometimes, I swear the priest at the church my parents force me to go to thinks I’m the devil’s spawn or something. Yes, because of my eyes. They don’t seem natural and sometimes I wish I could have a normal eye color, but hey, they scare the religious freaks away. If only they could scare my parents away...
“Are you really going to leave?” The woman had been bugging me about touring since I told her about meeting the record producer.
“Yes, mom,” I rolled my eyes and went on to straighten my hair.
“But...” She tried to think of an excuse, “How will you get fed properly? You barely eat enough as it is...” I don’t eat much, I never did. I just never wanted to eat. Don’t ask me, I don’t know why. I just have a small stomach? Genetics, bro, genetics.
“I’ll be fine, mom,” I reassured her with a hint of annoyance in my voice.
“But... But...”
“I’ll be fine, mother dearest,” I raised my voice a little. I was eighteen now, I wasn’t ten.
“Just... No drinking...” I heard the stress in her voice. It almost made me feel bad. She was probably freaking out. I was admitted to AA when I was fifteen, but got out two months later. Yes, I’m an alcoholic, but I’ve gotten better at pretending I’m sober. But even the drinking doesn’t even bother them as much as tobacco and drugs do. And now we get into drugs, don’t we? Sure, I’ve done drugs before, but the only thing I get high off now is marijuana, which is not a drug. It is a weed found in nature. That’s it... Maybe a little ecstasy here or there... I’m not addicted, okay? I just... Keep a bottle in my dresser in case I get really stressed out, you know? Don’t judge me...
The other guys, even Skeet are clear of drugs nowadays, but before, they sang a different note. We decided it wasn’t healthy (well, that and a few other...small, insignificant details...) and to cut back more and more until we stopped when we were about to turn seventeen. It was a group effort, but Harper and I are still on a few drugs. But it isn’t that bad. Harper is our sister, by the way. She isn’t related to any of us, but she’s our friend and I don’t mind going into her basement and smoking some crack with her every now and then.
Kidding.
But she has some serious drugs under those floor boards and some strong connections to drug dealers. Sometimes I wonder... Ever try mushrooms? Don’t... The first time I did, I had the most fucking wacked out hallucination. Let’s just say it involved Stewie Griffin babies, giant bees, and a bird-dog hybrid named Doug.
Harper may not be the best influence on me. I’ve gotten so fucked up because of her... But I’m fine now, see? Well, I’m not dead, am I? See? Fine... And in serious need of some wine right now. I’m so stressed out about this tour. Maybe I shouldn’t drink when I leave... At least if I do it here, someone will definitely be there to help me.
I mentally slap myself. Of course I’m going to drink! But.... Maybe not that much...
I thought about that and several other things, some more random than others, as I got myself ready.
And all of that fit in my backpack. Of course I dumped all of my school stuff out of it before-hand. I haven’t been in school for four months now, but it’s not like I emptied my bag when I graduated.
I slung the now 25lbs bag over my shoulder. I have one thing left. I walked into my room, which was almost empty. I’m surprised all my clothes fit inside only two bags. The drawers were all hanging out except for one. I opened it and dug through all the crap I saved up to hide it. (Lots of toys in here...) Ecstasy. I may be slightly addicted, but I don’t do it every fucking day. Maybe three times a month...
I quickly shoved the bottle into my backpack, slung it back over my shoulder, and grabbed my other bags. Almost all my clothes were in those two black and red bags. They were huge and heavy. But I’m not some weakling, I can handle 100lbs of weight... Barely, but still.
“I’m leaving,” I called as I walked down the stairs, knowing Heath and the others were already waiting outside. My mother rushed in from the kitchen and practically knocked me over when she hugged me.
“Mom, let go,” I complained without doing much else but standing there, waiting for her to let me the fuck go.
“I’m gonna miss you,” She told me, still clinging to me.
“I’ll... Miss you too, mom...” I didn’t believe myself, I sounded so emotionless when I said that.
“I love you,” She still wouldn’t let go. I rolled my eyes and said nothing. She wasn’t getting a response until she released me.
Surprisingly, she did.
“I love you, too, mom.” I started moving again. I picked my stuff up off the floor and continued to the door. My dad was working so, he wouldn’t see me go.
Of course, the woman followed me to Heath’s truck, telling me how much my father and her would miss me and how much they love me. The faster I could get out of here, the better.
Throwing my things into the back of the vehicle, which had a cover over it to make sure everything we had back there stayed there, I climbed into the back seat next to Skeeter. He was bouncing up-and-down excitedly on the leather seat, Ethan had shotgun, and Heath was driving (duh, his truck). A U-Haul trailer was attached to the back, where all the instruments and other stuff we had that was too big to fit in the truck were.
My mother stepped back as Heath turned the truck off standby and turned it on. We may not have some awesome bus, but the gold painted Silverado was great, too. And it had some serious mileage.
Did you know it was exhausting driving from TX to CA in a truck with three other dudes and a chick following from behind in her own car? Well, for those with simple minds like Skeet’s; it is very exhausting.
We were just lucky Heath was born in California and goes back every summer to visit the rest of his family so he knew how to get there. Usually, it’s him, his dad and his two brothers, but it wasn’t much different with us. It was still four guys packed into a vehicle with a bunch of stuff in the back.
As you can guess, Heath’s family is rich. His grandfather is a fucking millionaire for fucks sake! I want the old man to finally croak. Why? Because, chances are, he’s going to leave all that money to his dear, precious grandsons... And then we get mooch off Heath until we burn through all the cash! (And with Heath, it wouldn’t last long anyway.)
MONEY!
I love moneh, who doesn’t?
Anyway, two long, hard days later; we are in Los Angeles, California! Where we are supposed to meet up with Josh and our label’s...people...guys...producers...something... We’re meeting with Lava.
We checked into a motel and showered, changed and whatnot. I changed into one of our own shirts. Heath and Ethan went off to some print-shop-place and started making band merch. This one was black with the band name, PÜNK ROX across the chest in light blue on top of a ghostly skull and cross bones with red eyes. Badass enough for you? I also put on black jeans that hugged my body like no lover before. If there had been one. Ha. And knee-high black Converse, no one said we needed to look professional.
Ethan was wearing his beige, “skater boy” hoodie, a simple black tee beneath it and black jeans. Heath was going to flaunt whatever he had with a skin-tight, white t-shirt that very clearly showed off his surfer abs, regular blue jeans, and sneakers. Skeet? He looked similar to me, black skinny jeans, black Converse, but he was wearing a tight black shirt with white stars on it. Skeeter and Ethan are both pretty tall, but are both really lean and lanky. Heath is taller than all of us, but is muscle-bound and has a completely different style than us. He’s got a more “normal” look. I’m short, lean, and short...really short...
I stood in the studio, staring at everything in there, ignoring Ethan tossing a blue hat on my head. From the receptionist, to the plaques on the wall, to the plant in the corner, to the doors, to some guy who suddenly appeared next to me...
OH FUCK!
I jumped and clashed with Heath, who barely budged. Damn him and all his strength. I immediately noticed the guy as Josh. I relaxed a bit and went back to staring at things with wide-eyes.
“Nice to see you again, too.” He wasn’t all that hurt.
“Don’t mind him, he’s just a little... Overwhelmed by all this. He’s a small town boy.” Heath explained, I ignored him.
“We all are...” Ethan defended.
“I’m not... I was born in Hollywood,” Heath smirked, Ethan rolled his eyes.
“You grew up in a small town...” He grumbled even though he didn’t really have a defense anymore.
“Well, Pünk Rox, I’d like you to come with me and meet Jason Flom. The president of Lava.” Josh told us.
I don’t want to bore you with the details of our little interview with Mr. Flom so, to summarize it in the fewest words possible...
Signed.
After signing the contract, Flom explained that the company would pay for a bus, but we had to do the rest. Like gas and maintenance and paint and stuff.
The door soon burst open.
“Which studio are Black Veil Brides in?” The dark haired man asked urgently, agitation lining his voice.
“Um, 9, but-” Before Josh could finish, the guy was gone, I barely even got to see who he was.
“Um...” Abraham stood there, dumbstruck for a moment.
“I’m uh, just going to go make sure no one dies...” He started towards the door.
“You do that,” Flom didn’t object.
“Was that Matt Good from D.R.U.G.S?” Ethan was about to have a little fangirl moment.
“Was it? I could barely see him, he came and went so fast...” I wondered. Ha, that’s what she said!
“That’s what she said,” Skeet read my mind, saying it aloud and started cracking up, so did I because I wasn’t mature enough not to.
“So, um... Wait, did he say Black Veil Brides?” I snapped to attention. Famous people! I’m in the same building...as famous people! Lots of famous people!
“Uh, yeah...” Jason sighed, “You wanna meet them? I’m sure they’re almost finished. They probably just got interrupted anyway...” Ethan and I squealed like little girls. If that black flash was Matt Good, then we were both about to have a fangirl attack.
“What is wrong with you?” Heath and Skeeter looked at us funny.
“I don’t know!” I shouted, all hyper and giddy now. FAMOUS PEOPLE! When Heath said I grew up in a small town, he meant I never went anywhere, either. I’d never been out of College Station, to tell you the truth. But neither has Ethan, so we were on similar terms here. Even Skeet had at least been out to Dallas before.
I suddenly wondered what Harper was doing. We got to the studio and she said she was too hungry to care about what was happening and went to get take out for us. But she never said where and left her phone with me. Shit, we just lost crazy girl...
Oh well... FAMOUS PEOPLE! During my mental fangirl explosion, Jason had called, assumably studio 9, and was now just putting the phone down.
“Josh got the little situation under control and now says it’s safe to go down.” He started, “I’ll call my assistant and she’ll lead you there if you’d like.” Ethan and I nodded like hyper teenage girls.
Jason’s assistant lead us down a couple halls before coming to a door with the number ‘9’ on it. A light sat above the door with a sign underneath reading, “When light is on, do not enter!”
The light was off so, it was safe to say we could enter. And we did. Sort of. The assistant let us in and the door opened just in time to get slammed shut again by something. An audible “shit!” and some laughter could be heard through it. Clearly male. The woman knocked on the door and everything just sort of froze.
“Who is it?” An obviously fake high pitched voice came back through the wood, or metal, or whatever this door was made of.
“Open the door, you have guests...” The assistant was not amused like the rest of us were.
“Uhhhh... No one’s hooome...” The high pitched voice said back.
“Mr. Good, this is a recording studio, not a house. Now open this door.” She crossed her arms as we started snickering.
“Damn...” Could be heard before the door opened to the amused face or none other than Matt Good from D.R.U.G.S. Ethan looked like he was about have a fan-girl-hemorrhage.
“Wow, you are short.” He looked down, very far down, at me. My nose twitched while I stared way, way up at him. How fucking tall is he? A whole damn foot taller than me, I bet...
“Well, you’re a giant.” I fought back, laughter came from my band mates and from inside the recording room. Matt had that ‘touché’ look to his face and he pushed to door wide open before stepping to the side to let us in.
The room was huge, just so you know. But it looked a lot smaller with, like, ten guys inside, only to get smaller when the four of us walked in.
But we stopped and stared first. I did head count. Black Veil Brides were scattered about the room. Matt was leaning against the wall by the door. A short, blonde or red headed guy was in the corner, watching over them like a parent. Josh and two more guys were seated by all this electronic stuff. Sound equipment, one can assume. I noticed the assistant disappeared on us.
Great... I thought sarcastically.
“Whoa, shit, where’d the chick go?” Ethan looked around.
“Yeah, we call her the ‘ghost of the studio’ because one minute, she’ll be there, the next, she’ll be gone,” Andy spoke up, “All you have to do is turn your back and she’ll be running back to her desk before you know it.”
“Well, she’s an awful guide, she didn’t even give us a tour.” I joked, I knew she was only supposed to lead us to the studio.
“She gives tours?” Skeet was slightly leaning back as he swung around to look at me.
I stared at him silently. Heath looked down with his eye brows up as if to say, “wooow...” Ethan was just staring at him too.
“I... See... Shiny...” Idiot looked around the room, which had its share of shiny things.
“What’s wrong with him?” Jinxx asked rightfully.
“No one knows,” I said slowly.
“Why’d you say it like that?”
“It’s a mystery, no one is sure why he turned out so stupid. His little sister is smarter than me.”
“What is she? An honor student or something?”
“Oh, no, she’s ten...” Everyone looked at me funny except Heath, Skeet, and Ethan. They knew what I was talking about.
“How is she smarter than you if she’s only in fifth grade?”
“You ask a lot of questions...”
“What is your IQ?” He seemed genuinely interested in how a ten year old girl is smarter than an eighteen year old boy.
“The fuck should I know?”
“Did you flunk school?”
“Just graduated, like, four months ago...”
“Then how is-?... Never mind...” Jinxx gave up, I smiled victoriously.
“Questions aside. Guys... Gentlemen... You people!” Josh struggled between what exactly to call us all, “Meet the recently signed Pünk Rox.” The four of us were sure to smile. Well, as close to smiles as Ethan and I could manage. Heath and Skeeter were beaming for different reasons.
“Jesse,” I slightly raised my hand when Josh said my name.
“Ethan,” He took off his black baseball hat and bowed dramatically.
“Heath,” He grinned once more.
“And Skeeter,” Skeet waved like a crazy, hyped up person.
“Is he okay?” CC asked quickly seeing Skeet all jittery like he is.
“He’s fine,” I waved it off.
“He’s just really hyper. It’s also kind of why he’s our drummer. He can pound some seriously fast beats.” Ethan chuckled a bit, remembering that when Skeeter get’s really hyper, he moves twice the speed of the actual song and throws everyone off.
“I bet that wired little fucker can move the speed of light...” Josh thought, I snickered at his wording.
“Anyway, back to business. Jesse-”
“You can call me Jess,” I offered, he nodded.
“Jess, Ethan, Heath, Skeeter, this is Andy,” He pointed to the other giant in the room.
“Ashley and CC,” He gestured to the two men near him.
“Jinxx,” He actually came up and shook our hands.
“Jake,” He waved enthusiastically, seemingly in a similar hyper mood.
“And then there’s Matt over there.” Josh finished by pointing towards Good, who was still leaning against the wall. He offered a smile.
“We know, but because we’re nice, we let you feel all host-like and introduce us anyway,” I crossed my arms playfully and shifted my weight on my feet.
“Thanks, small fry.” He fought back, I puffed my cheeks up very slightly as I glared.
“ You can make fun of my height... But you cannot make fun of my hair, and that’s all I care about.” I smirked smugly, I love my hair.
“You do have awesome hair,” Andy observed, I flipped my bangs for show. My hat, well, Ethan’s hat moved quite a bit at the motion.
Ethan took it off my head before I lost it. He sat it over top his own.
“Steal my hat?” I looked him up and down.
“Yep,”
“Why?”
“Because...”
“Why?”
“Because...”
“Why?”
“Be-fucking-cause...”
“Give me back my damn hat!” I demanded.
“No, you with all your hair flippy-flippy, you’re gonna lose it!”
“Like you’re one to-...” I narrowed my eyes, “Hair flippy-flippy?”
“Flip,” He tossed up my bangs with his fingers.
“Whoa, shit, you have some crazy contacts...” Ashley said since he could see my eyes now.
“Actually, they’re natural... I get that a lot. ‘Ghost eyes’ and whatnot.” I sighed, not all that offended.
Then, I smacked Ethan over the head.
“Ow, the hell?” He whined.
“Don’t touch my hair,” And with that, I turned and crossed my arms as if to make a point.
“-Touch your hair... Touch your hair if I want to...” He grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled. Hard.
“Ahw!” I yelped and he let go. I glared, he messed up my hair... This. Is. War.
A kick to the leg, an elbow to the back, and he fell to his hands and knees. I finished it up by pressing my shoe to his shoulder and kicking him over.
“-Fucking touch my hair...” I began possessively fixing my ebony locks. You’d never guess how shy I really am at this point.
Everyone else in the room was staring at me in shocked amazement that I, a skinny little dude, could take down taller Ethan that easily.
“We need a sign to hang around your neck.” Heath started, “Touch Hair At Own Risk...”
“Yeah?” I answered, examining my hair and extremely light blue eyes. I usually straighten my hair, but I have to admit, it’s kind of cute all curly like it is right now. But I’d never go out in public like this. I won’t even let my parents see me like this. Only one other person has seen me this way and that was Ethan. When you’ve known someone as long as we’ve known each other, you start to see things...
Fuck, I swear I’ve seen him naked at least five times by now. BY MISTAKE! Course, he was no better... He couldn’t have seen me more than twice with no clothes. After the first time, I began taking very careful precautions to make sure that didn’t happen again. Like, locking the damn door. The second time was because I forgot to lock the door and he came in, froze, and mindlessly turned back around. It was kind of funny actually.
A lot of people wonder if I’m wearing contacts because of the odd color of my eyes. I’m not. My eyes are practically white. It’s not that I’m complaining, but they look ghostly. Ever seen Let Me In? Know how vampire girl’s eyes turned that crazy blue when she went all blood-sucker-mode? That’s about a good summary of what my eyes look like, unintentionally, but it just popped into my head.
It definitely throws people off. Sometimes, I swear the priest at the church my parents force me to go to thinks I’m the devil’s spawn or something. Yes, because of my eyes. They don’t seem natural and sometimes I wish I could have a normal eye color, but hey, they scare the religious freaks away. If only they could scare my parents away...
“Are you really going to leave?” The woman had been bugging me about touring since I told her about meeting the record producer.
“Yes, mom,” I rolled my eyes and went on to straighten my hair.
“But...” She tried to think of an excuse, “How will you get fed properly? You barely eat enough as it is...” I don’t eat much, I never did. I just never wanted to eat. Don’t ask me, I don’t know why. I just have a small stomach? Genetics, bro, genetics.
“I’ll be fine, mom,” I reassured her with a hint of annoyance in my voice.
“But... But...”
“I’ll be fine, mother dearest,” I raised my voice a little. I was eighteen now, I wasn’t ten.
“Just... No drinking...” I heard the stress in her voice. It almost made me feel bad. She was probably freaking out. I was admitted to AA when I was fifteen, but got out two months later. Yes, I’m an alcoholic, but I’ve gotten better at pretending I’m sober. But even the drinking doesn’t even bother them as much as tobacco and drugs do. And now we get into drugs, don’t we? Sure, I’ve done drugs before, but the only thing I get high off now is marijuana, which is not a drug. It is a weed found in nature. That’s it... Maybe a little ecstasy here or there... I’m not addicted, okay? I just... Keep a bottle in my dresser in case I get really stressed out, you know? Don’t judge me...
The other guys, even Skeet are clear of drugs nowadays, but before, they sang a different note. We decided it wasn’t healthy (well, that and a few other...small, insignificant details...) and to cut back more and more until we stopped when we were about to turn seventeen. It was a group effort, but Harper and I are still on a few drugs. But it isn’t that bad. Harper is our sister, by the way. She isn’t related to any of us, but she’s our friend and I don’t mind going into her basement and smoking some crack with her every now and then.
Kidding.
But she has some serious drugs under those floor boards and some strong connections to drug dealers. Sometimes I wonder... Ever try mushrooms? Don’t... The first time I did, I had the most fucking wacked out hallucination. Let’s just say it involved Stewie Griffin babies, giant bees, and a bird-dog hybrid named Doug.
Harper may not be the best influence on me. I’ve gotten so fucked up because of her... But I’m fine now, see? Well, I’m not dead, am I? See? Fine... And in serious need of some wine right now. I’m so stressed out about this tour. Maybe I shouldn’t drink when I leave... At least if I do it here, someone will definitely be there to help me.
I mentally slap myself. Of course I’m going to drink! But.... Maybe not that much...
I thought about that and several other things, some more random than others, as I got myself ready.
- Straighten hair
- Painted nails (they’re black and yellow now :D)
- Eyeliner (are you seriously that surprised?)
- Glitter (I love glitter, so sue me)
- Clothes (black skinny jeans, a seriously tight Ludo band-t, this fat-ass studded belt, converse, several bracelets of all kinds of material, and my grandfather’s dog tags from when he was in the military. He gave them to me for my fourteenth birthday. At first, I thought they were some cheap-ass gift, but now, I love them and always wear them.)
- Teeth brushed, I’m good to go. All I need to do is pack what’s left.
And all of that fit in my backpack. Of course I dumped all of my school stuff out of it before-hand. I haven’t been in school for four months now, but it’s not like I emptied my bag when I graduated.
I slung the now 25lbs bag over my shoulder. I have one thing left. I walked into my room, which was almost empty. I’m surprised all my clothes fit inside only two bags. The drawers were all hanging out except for one. I opened it and dug through all the crap I saved up to hide it. (Lots of toys in here...) Ecstasy. I may be slightly addicted, but I don’t do it every fucking day. Maybe three times a month...
I quickly shoved the bottle into my backpack, slung it back over my shoulder, and grabbed my other bags. Almost all my clothes were in those two black and red bags. They were huge and heavy. But I’m not some weakling, I can handle 100lbs of weight... Barely, but still.
“I’m leaving,” I called as I walked down the stairs, knowing Heath and the others were already waiting outside. My mother rushed in from the kitchen and practically knocked me over when she hugged me.
“Mom, let go,” I complained without doing much else but standing there, waiting for her to let me the fuck go.
“I’m gonna miss you,” She told me, still clinging to me.
“I’ll... Miss you too, mom...” I didn’t believe myself, I sounded so emotionless when I said that.
“I love you,” She still wouldn’t let go. I rolled my eyes and said nothing. She wasn’t getting a response until she released me.
Surprisingly, she did.
“I love you, too, mom.” I started moving again. I picked my stuff up off the floor and continued to the door. My dad was working so, he wouldn’t see me go.
Of course, the woman followed me to Heath’s truck, telling me how much my father and her would miss me and how much they love me. The faster I could get out of here, the better.
Throwing my things into the back of the vehicle, which had a cover over it to make sure everything we had back there stayed there, I climbed into the back seat next to Skeeter. He was bouncing up-and-down excitedly on the leather seat, Ethan had shotgun, and Heath was driving (duh, his truck). A U-Haul trailer was attached to the back, where all the instruments and other stuff we had that was too big to fit in the truck were.
My mother stepped back as Heath turned the truck off standby and turned it on. We may not have some awesome bus, but the gold painted Silverado was great, too. And it had some serious mileage.
***
Did you know it was exhausting driving from TX to CA in a truck with three other dudes and a chick following from behind in her own car? Well, for those with simple minds like Skeet’s; it is very exhausting.
We were just lucky Heath was born in California and goes back every summer to visit the rest of his family so he knew how to get there. Usually, it’s him, his dad and his two brothers, but it wasn’t much different with us. It was still four guys packed into a vehicle with a bunch of stuff in the back.
As you can guess, Heath’s family is rich. His grandfather is a fucking millionaire for fucks sake! I want the old man to finally croak. Why? Because, chances are, he’s going to leave all that money to his dear, precious grandsons... And then we get mooch off Heath until we burn through all the cash! (And with Heath, it wouldn’t last long anyway.)
MONEY!
I love moneh, who doesn’t?
Anyway, two long, hard days later; we are in Los Angeles, California! Where we are supposed to meet up with Josh and our label’s...people...guys...producers...something... We’re meeting with Lava.
***
We checked into a motel and showered, changed and whatnot. I changed into one of our own shirts. Heath and Ethan went off to some print-shop-place and started making band merch. This one was black with the band name, PÜNK ROX across the chest in light blue on top of a ghostly skull and cross bones with red eyes. Badass enough for you? I also put on black jeans that hugged my body like no lover before. If there had been one. Ha. And knee-high black Converse, no one said we needed to look professional.
Ethan was wearing his beige, “skater boy” hoodie, a simple black tee beneath it and black jeans. Heath was going to flaunt whatever he had with a skin-tight, white t-shirt that very clearly showed off his surfer abs, regular blue jeans, and sneakers. Skeet? He looked similar to me, black skinny jeans, black Converse, but he was wearing a tight black shirt with white stars on it. Skeeter and Ethan are both pretty tall, but are both really lean and lanky. Heath is taller than all of us, but is muscle-bound and has a completely different style than us. He’s got a more “normal” look. I’m short, lean, and short...really short...
I stood in the studio, staring at everything in there, ignoring Ethan tossing a blue hat on my head. From the receptionist, to the plaques on the wall, to the plant in the corner, to the doors, to some guy who suddenly appeared next to me...
OH FUCK!
I jumped and clashed with Heath, who barely budged. Damn him and all his strength. I immediately noticed the guy as Josh. I relaxed a bit and went back to staring at things with wide-eyes.
“Nice to see you again, too.” He wasn’t all that hurt.
“Don’t mind him, he’s just a little... Overwhelmed by all this. He’s a small town boy.” Heath explained, I ignored him.
“We all are...” Ethan defended.
“I’m not... I was born in Hollywood,” Heath smirked, Ethan rolled his eyes.
“You grew up in a small town...” He grumbled even though he didn’t really have a defense anymore.
“Well, Pünk Rox, I’d like you to come with me and meet Jason Flom. The president of Lava.” Josh told us.
I don’t want to bore you with the details of our little interview with Mr. Flom so, to summarize it in the fewest words possible...
Signed.
After signing the contract, Flom explained that the company would pay for a bus, but we had to do the rest. Like gas and maintenance and paint and stuff.
The door soon burst open.
“Which studio are Black Veil Brides in?” The dark haired man asked urgently, agitation lining his voice.
“Um, 9, but-” Before Josh could finish, the guy was gone, I barely even got to see who he was.
“Um...” Abraham stood there, dumbstruck for a moment.
“I’m uh, just going to go make sure no one dies...” He started towards the door.
“You do that,” Flom didn’t object.
“Was that Matt Good from D.R.U.G.S?” Ethan was about to have a little fangirl moment.
“Was it? I could barely see him, he came and went so fast...” I wondered. Ha, that’s what she said!
“That’s what she said,” Skeet read my mind, saying it aloud and started cracking up, so did I because I wasn’t mature enough not to.
“So, um... Wait, did he say Black Veil Brides?” I snapped to attention. Famous people! I’m in the same building...as famous people! Lots of famous people!
“Uh, yeah...” Jason sighed, “You wanna meet them? I’m sure they’re almost finished. They probably just got interrupted anyway...” Ethan and I squealed like little girls. If that black flash was Matt Good, then we were both about to have a fangirl attack.
“What is wrong with you?” Heath and Skeeter looked at us funny.
“I don’t know!” I shouted, all hyper and giddy now. FAMOUS PEOPLE! When Heath said I grew up in a small town, he meant I never went anywhere, either. I’d never been out of College Station, to tell you the truth. But neither has Ethan, so we were on similar terms here. Even Skeet had at least been out to Dallas before.
I suddenly wondered what Harper was doing. We got to the studio and she said she was too hungry to care about what was happening and went to get take out for us. But she never said where and left her phone with me. Shit, we just lost crazy girl...
Oh well... FAMOUS PEOPLE! During my mental fangirl explosion, Jason had called, assumably studio 9, and was now just putting the phone down.
“Josh got the little situation under control and now says it’s safe to go down.” He started, “I’ll call my assistant and she’ll lead you there if you’d like.” Ethan and I nodded like hyper teenage girls.
Jason’s assistant lead us down a couple halls before coming to a door with the number ‘9’ on it. A light sat above the door with a sign underneath reading, “When light is on, do not enter!”
The light was off so, it was safe to say we could enter. And we did. Sort of. The assistant let us in and the door opened just in time to get slammed shut again by something. An audible “shit!” and some laughter could be heard through it. Clearly male. The woman knocked on the door and everything just sort of froze.
“Who is it?” An obviously fake high pitched voice came back through the wood, or metal, or whatever this door was made of.
“Open the door, you have guests...” The assistant was not amused like the rest of us were.
“Uhhhh... No one’s hooome...” The high pitched voice said back.
“Mr. Good, this is a recording studio, not a house. Now open this door.” She crossed her arms as we started snickering.
“Damn...” Could be heard before the door opened to the amused face or none other than Matt Good from D.R.U.G.S. Ethan looked like he was about have a fan-girl-hemorrhage.
“Wow, you are short.” He looked down, very far down, at me. My nose twitched while I stared way, way up at him. How fucking tall is he? A whole damn foot taller than me, I bet...
“Well, you’re a giant.” I fought back, laughter came from my band mates and from inside the recording room. Matt had that ‘touché’ look to his face and he pushed to door wide open before stepping to the side to let us in.
The room was huge, just so you know. But it looked a lot smaller with, like, ten guys inside, only to get smaller when the four of us walked in.
But we stopped and stared first. I did head count. Black Veil Brides were scattered about the room. Matt was leaning against the wall by the door. A short, blonde or red headed guy was in the corner, watching over them like a parent. Josh and two more guys were seated by all this electronic stuff. Sound equipment, one can assume. I noticed the assistant disappeared on us.
Great... I thought sarcastically.
“Whoa, shit, where’d the chick go?” Ethan looked around.
“Yeah, we call her the ‘ghost of the studio’ because one minute, she’ll be there, the next, she’ll be gone,” Andy spoke up, “All you have to do is turn your back and she’ll be running back to her desk before you know it.”
“Well, she’s an awful guide, she didn’t even give us a tour.” I joked, I knew she was only supposed to lead us to the studio.
“She gives tours?” Skeet was slightly leaning back as he swung around to look at me.
I stared at him silently. Heath looked down with his eye brows up as if to say, “wooow...” Ethan was just staring at him too.
“I... See... Shiny...” Idiot looked around the room, which had its share of shiny things.
“What’s wrong with him?” Jinxx asked rightfully.
“No one knows,” I said slowly.
“Why’d you say it like that?”
“It’s a mystery, no one is sure why he turned out so stupid. His little sister is smarter than me.”
“What is she? An honor student or something?”
“Oh, no, she’s ten...” Everyone looked at me funny except Heath, Skeet, and Ethan. They knew what I was talking about.
“How is she smarter than you if she’s only in fifth grade?”
“You ask a lot of questions...”
“What is your IQ?” He seemed genuinely interested in how a ten year old girl is smarter than an eighteen year old boy.
“The fuck should I know?”
“Did you flunk school?”
“Just graduated, like, four months ago...”
“Then how is-?... Never mind...” Jinxx gave up, I smiled victoriously.
“Questions aside. Guys... Gentlemen... You people!” Josh struggled between what exactly to call us all, “Meet the recently signed Pünk Rox.” The four of us were sure to smile. Well, as close to smiles as Ethan and I could manage. Heath and Skeeter were beaming for different reasons.
“Jesse,” I slightly raised my hand when Josh said my name.
“Ethan,” He took off his black baseball hat and bowed dramatically.
“Heath,” He grinned once more.
“And Skeeter,” Skeet waved like a crazy, hyped up person.
“Is he okay?” CC asked quickly seeing Skeet all jittery like he is.
“He’s fine,” I waved it off.
“He’s just really hyper. It’s also kind of why he’s our drummer. He can pound some seriously fast beats.” Ethan chuckled a bit, remembering that when Skeeter get’s really hyper, he moves twice the speed of the actual song and throws everyone off.
“I bet that wired little fucker can move the speed of light...” Josh thought, I snickered at his wording.
“Anyway, back to business. Jesse-”
“You can call me Jess,” I offered, he nodded.
“Jess, Ethan, Heath, Skeeter, this is Andy,” He pointed to the other giant in the room.
“Ashley and CC,” He gestured to the two men near him.
“Jinxx,” He actually came up and shook our hands.
“Jake,” He waved enthusiastically, seemingly in a similar hyper mood.
“And then there’s Matt over there.” Josh finished by pointing towards Good, who was still leaning against the wall. He offered a smile.
“We know, but because we’re nice, we let you feel all host-like and introduce us anyway,” I crossed my arms playfully and shifted my weight on my feet.
“Thanks, small fry.” He fought back, I puffed my cheeks up very slightly as I glared.
“ You can make fun of my height... But you cannot make fun of my hair, and that’s all I care about.” I smirked smugly, I love my hair.
“You do have awesome hair,” Andy observed, I flipped my bangs for show. My hat, well, Ethan’s hat moved quite a bit at the motion.
Ethan took it off my head before I lost it. He sat it over top his own.
“Steal my hat?” I looked him up and down.
“Yep,”
“Why?”
“Because...”
“Why?”
“Because...”
“Why?”
“Be-fucking-cause...”
“Give me back my damn hat!” I demanded.
“No, you with all your hair flippy-flippy, you’re gonna lose it!”
“Like you’re one to-...” I narrowed my eyes, “Hair flippy-flippy?”
“Flip,” He tossed up my bangs with his fingers.
“Whoa, shit, you have some crazy contacts...” Ashley said since he could see my eyes now.
“Actually, they’re natural... I get that a lot. ‘Ghost eyes’ and whatnot.” I sighed, not all that offended.
Then, I smacked Ethan over the head.
“Ow, the hell?” He whined.
“Don’t touch my hair,” And with that, I turned and crossed my arms as if to make a point.
“-Touch your hair... Touch your hair if I want to...” He grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled. Hard.
“Ahw!” I yelped and he let go. I glared, he messed up my hair... This. Is. War.
A kick to the leg, an elbow to the back, and he fell to his hands and knees. I finished it up by pressing my shoe to his shoulder and kicking him over.
“-Fucking touch my hair...” I began possessively fixing my ebony locks. You’d never guess how shy I really am at this point.
Everyone else in the room was staring at me in shocked amazement that I, a skinny little dude, could take down taller Ethan that easily.
“We need a sign to hang around your neck.” Heath started, “Touch Hair At Own Risk...”