Burn

The nerves had finally hit. Thursday night, I was on the computer doing more research on The Maine when I realized that tomorrow was the day. Tomorrow at that time I would be getting ready to watch their set, having already interviewed them once, and preparing for the second one. I forced myself to stay up later than normal by doing little things around my apartment -- tidying the rooms, washing my bed sheets, dusting the tables in the living room and wiping down the counters in the kitchen. After finally settling in bed at around three in the morning, I woke up the next day at twelve. I figured that was a perfect a time as any, and quickly opened a group chat with Rose and Callie on my phone.

Me: Can you guys pretty pretty plz come over and help me get ready for tonight?

Rose: Already otw. Did you literally sleep all day? I thought you were dead.

Callie: Uh YEAH I can come over. You need major outfit recon.

Me: I was trying to waste time. And shutup, just get over here!

I rolled my eyes, throwing my phone on the couch. I scrolled through the TV channels for a while until I head a few soft knocks on the door before Callie and Rose came barging in.

"Do you always leave your door unlocked?" Callie asked, immediately kicking off her shoes and plopping on the couch. "'Cause that's not very safe."

"I was waiting for you guys." I said, still not moving from my slumped position on the couch. Rose took one look at me and went ballistic. "Ohhhh no! You're not going to do this."

"Do what?" I mumbled. I was still flicking through channels but I knew exactly what she was getting at. I always got in a weird, lazy mood before I knew I had something important to do. It happened literally every time without fail.

"This is way too important for you to pull this 'I'm Viola and I'm a big, lazy mess right before I have to INTERVIEW THE MAINE TONIGHT AT THE PALACE!'" she raised her voice on the last part, throwing her hands on her hips to emphasize. Callie nodded in agreement. "She's right, Vi. This is really important -- there's no time to slack off now. You have a lot of weight on your shoulders to pull this thing off right."

I sighed, pushing myself off the couch and standing up to stretch. "I don't even have an outfit picked out." I whined.

Rose grabbed my arm and began dragging me towards my bedroom. "That's what we're here for, honey. Callie let's get started!"



A few hours later, I had an outfit put together courtesy of Callie and Rose and my room was in a state of disaster. I walked over to the full-length mirror to check out their final product. Callie had curled my dark hair to perfection, pulling half of it back and clipping it in place with a black velvet bow. Rose suggested since I was going to be standing for a good portion of the night that I wear something casual, so I had on canvas sneakers, jeans and a plaid shirt.

"Are you sure Vans are okay with this outfit?" I asked as I fiddled with my watch on my wrist. "Yes." Rose called out from the bathroom. "Me and Callie will be wearing some with you."

I sighed, giving myself one last glance in the mirror before I headed into the living room and plopped on the couch. I checked my phone to see a text message from Caleb saying that he and the guys were on the way, and one new Twitter notification:

@themaine is now following you!

A jolt of excitement coursed through my body. Why would they follow me, though? Was it normal for band pages to follow the people that interviewed them? Callie joined me in the living room then and sat down beside me. I turned my phone around to show her the notification I'd just received. "Whoa!" she exclaimed, snatching my phone out of my hand so she could get a better look.

"Is that normal?"

"Who cares! They followed you back!"

A few soft knocks on the door sounded through the apartment, followed by some louder ones and Alex yelling, "LET ME IN SO I CAN SEE MY GIRLFRIEND!"

Callie laughed, getting up to answer the door. Alex barged in, scooping her up and planting small kisses all over her face. She laughed loudly, squirming in his arms but loving every second of it. Seeing them together made me so happy because I loved their relationship so much. They were one of those rare couples that hardly ever argued, and they agreed on things almost instantly. They were basically soul mates, and I was envious at times of how easy they proved relationships to be.

Caleb entered last behind Joel, and I did a quick run-down of his outfit with my eyes. He looked extremely handsome in his light blue button-down, paired with black jeans and a pair of Vans similar to mine. We locked eyes and he smiled, walking over to me. He leaned down and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead, before taking a seat beside me on the couch. "Well hello, beautiful."

I beamed at him. "Hello, handsome."

"You ready to do the damn thing?"

I giggled at his choice of words before taking a deep breath. My stomach seemed to knot up at just the mention of what I was doing tonight, and i was thankful I hadn't eaten yet because I was sure it would have just soured in my stomach. Caleb noticed the change in my demeanor and patted my knee softly. "You're gonna do great."

Rose came into the living room then, fully dressed and leaving a trail of deliciously scented perfume in her path. She looked gorgeous, as always, and I was jealous of the fact that you could actually tell she had boobs under her top -- unlike me.

"Okay, so, checklist. Vi you got your camera?" she asked, pointing at me.

"Check."

"Extra battery pack?"

"Check."

"Backstage pass?"

I pulled it out from my purse. "Check."

"Tape recorder?"

"Check."

"Breath mints?"

"Breath mints?" I asked and she sighed in frustration.

"You can't talk to these dudes with bad breath!" Everyone chuckled but I narrowed my eyes at her. "Rose..." I warned and she quickly went on to questioning Joel.

"Do you have our tickets?"

"Yes." he replied, pulling them out of his pocket.

"Caleb do you have your ticket?" he nodded and she turned to Callie and Alex. "And you guys have your tickets?" After getting her final confirmation, she clapped her hands excitedly. "Then we are ready to go people! Let's do this!"



I was strangely calm by the time we arrived at The Palace. Other than fiddling constantly with the ring on my finger, it seemed as though all the nervousness had drained out of my body. I couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing, so for the time being I just decided to roll with it.

There were already a lot of people waiting in line outside the front doors. Since The Palace was located in a busy city area, we parked a block away and had to walk to the actual venue. The air outside was comfortable as our summer slowly turned into fall, so it was rather pleasant weather to be outside in.

As we came around to the front of the building, I noticed the lines mostly consisted of girls a little younger than myself, with the occasional boy standing above the crowd here and there. I smiled to myself, smug in the fact that I was basically spot-on about the band's fan base. There was one long line forming to the left side of the door, while a shorter one was forming to the right.

"Why are there two lines?" I asked.

"One is for general admission, and the other is for VIP passes. Those lucky bastards get to go in early so that they can get good spots for the show." Joel answered, narrowing his eyes at the line.

"Well so do I, kind of." I replied, grinning. I checked my watch again for what felt like the hundredth time that night. It was finally time for me to go inside.

My friends and I separated as I began walking past the VIP line to the front doors. Caleb grabbed me in a for a hug once more before following our friends, whispering into my hair, "Don't be nervous. You'll be great."

I smiled warmly at him, continuing my walk to the door. A girl with light brown hair wearing a The Maine shirt called out to me as I passed. "Um, the end of the line is back there." she said, pointing behind her. A few of her friends looked at me pointedly, waiting for me to admit my mistake and return to my spot. I held up my backstage pass and camera, smiling at them. "Sorry. I guess I'm the VIP of the VIP." I said, and continued walking, trying not to relish at the embarrassed redness that crept up her neck.

After showing the person at the door my pass, I walked into the venue, thankful to be away from all the little watchful eyes. "Who knew The Maine had such vicious fans." I mumbled to myself. I wandered around the venue, checking out the arrangement and looking for any sign of life. I began walking towards a door beside the stage just as a boy poked his head out of it. He pushed his long, brown hair out of his face, his eyes widening as he saw me.

"Uh, hey. Are you supposed to be in here?" he asked, his brow furrowing. "The doors haven't opened yet."

I nodded my head nervously. "Yeah, I'm uh -- a journalist. Viola Evans?" I held up my camera and backstage pass and recognition sparked in his eyes. "Hey, yeah! They told us about you!" I smiled warmly as he motioned for me to follow him.

We walked through a hallway adorned with framed pictures of older bands -- The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, AC/DC -- before he turned, leading me to a door that had the band's logo taped to the front. He turned around and gestured for me to go in ahead of him. "I'm Pat, by the way."

My stomach tightened as I pushed the door open to spacey, warmly lit room. Tattered, black leather couches were spaced out among the walls, and the band lounged lazily on them, chatting away. I immediately noticed the notorious John O'Callaghan. He was sitting on the couch with his arms stretched out on the back of it, laughing loudly at something the boy I recognized as Kennedy was showing him on his phone. He quieted down as he noticed my presence in the room.

"Hey, a girl!" another one said, a goofy smile forming on his face. Every one of the boy's attention in the room was on me and my heart tripled in beats. Pat shut the door behind him and came to stand beside me. "Guys, this is--" he looked at me sheepishly, not remembering my name.

"Viola." I finished for him.

"Vi-ola." he repeated slower, testing how it sounded coming out of his mouth. "She's here to interview us." Everyone murmured hellos and I smiled shyly, still not liking the amount of eyes on me. I busied myself with pulling out my tape recorder from my bag, setting it on the coffee table in front of the couch.

I cleared my throat awkwardly before talking. "Um, I guess we can start by doing the introductions. Could you guys say your name and what you do in the band?"

The one who recognized me as a girl went first. "I'm Garrett Nickelsen. I play bass."

"I'm Kennedy Brock. I play guitar."

"I'm Jared Monaco. I also play guitar."

"I'm Pat Kirch. I bang on the circular things with wooden sticks."

John was the last to speak. "I'm John O'Callaghan and I sing for The Maine.

"So have you guys ever played here before, at The Palace?"

Kennedy nodded. "A few times before. It's become one of our favorite places to play on tour, that's why we chose to record the next album here near the city."

"And this will be the fourth album for The Maine -- do you think the studio process gets any easier as you record more?" I silently congratulated myself on not messing up on my wording. I would have to remember to thank Caleb for making me practice when I saw him.

"I think it does." Garrett said. "It's nerve-wracking going into the studio the first time with no idea how recording and producing an album goes. When we went in to record Can't Stop we were all blown away at how much goes into it."

"Do you think Forever Halloween will be more like Can't Stop, Won't Stop or a little more rock like Pioneer?"

"The band is maturing as a whole, and I think Pioneer is a reflection of that. That's the type of music we enjoy playing now, so I think we'll stick with it for a while."

I nodded. I was getting more comfortable as I asked more questions, which one flowing straight into another. My stomach was still squeamish from the spotlight I was in, and I kept noticing one pair of eyes hadn't moved from my face since I'd come in the room.

"I agree. Pioneer is very different sounding from the first record, and I think that's a good thing." I commented. "As you guys grow up -- so will your music, obviously. You aren't seventeen-year-old kids anymore."

"And we hope our fans will grow with us and adapt to the new sound. It's nice to see the same couple of kids from our first shows still in the front rows of the ones we play now." Jared added.

"Can I ask you a question?" John piped up finally, leaning forward in his seat with a mischievous glint in his eye. I nodded, furrowing my brow.

"What's your middle name?"

The rest of the boys seemed un-phased by his question -- only curious as to what my answer was. "Um--it's Grey."

"Viola Grey Evans. Violet Grey Evans." he said in dismay, shaking his head. "Your parents named you after two colors?"

My eyebrows shot up on my forehead, surprised at the fact that he knew the meaning behind my name. The guys laughed and I felt a blush creep up on my neck.

"Don't pick on the girl, John." Kennedy said, trying to hide a smile.

"Hey, at least it's not Cornelius..." I mumbled, looking at the ground. The room burst into laughter and it was John's turn to look surprised. He clapped his hands approvingly. "Ah, so the journalist has done her research!"

I smirked, and he continued to look at me with an emotion on his face that I couldn't quite decipher. A head poked into the room then, announcing to the band that they had 5 minutes until show time.

"I guess the rest will have to wait until after the show." I smiled, walking over to the coffee table to stop the tape recorder. The guys began moving from their spots on the couches to stretch and grab their in-ear monitors. I noticed John was still sitting, so I tried nonchalantly to turn on my camera and snap a picture of him without noticing. He seemed absorbed in his own thoughts, so I was successful.

"Hey," I said, and he lifted his gaze to meet mine. "About earlier....I never told you my last name?"

He smirked, and his voice was enticingly husky as he answered dryly, "I guess I've done my research, too."

Viola's Outfit