Rumours Ruin Reputations

Normally, if I had to make appearances like these, I would have somebody to dress me, do my makeup and get my hair looking all pretty. But not today. Judy had organized for my usual stylists to come and get me ready, but I wanted to start off being that new person; I wanted to start being myself. I was going to dress myself, do my own makeup, and leave my hair to airdry for once. There was no way I always needed people to do everything for me.

But now, while standing at the red carpet, I was kind of regretting my choice. The sun was hot, and although I was wearing a pretty short casual dress, I also made the stupid mistake of wearing knee high boots, a leather jacket, a black fedora, and black tights. It was just way too warm for what I decided to wear, but then again, the stylists would have probably made me wear something even warmer. They used to help me with outfits pretty often since I was the worst at fashion as a teenager. However, I knew my way around now, so I really wanted to become more independent. So what if I made a mistake? It would be mine to deal with.

I interviewed a couple of smaller bands who all really seemed to appreciate that I knew some stuff about them. Thank god for Judy. I would have awkwardly stood there not even remembering their names if it weren’t for her. The band members were so used to nobody knowing them, but their faces already lit up just as I guessed their names and named at least one of their songs. It was nice seeing people happy, because of something I did. Sure, I did feel a little guilty, since I didn’t actually fully know who they were, and I only found out literally the night before, but I gave some effort, right?

And that’s when I saw them, All Time Low. Fans started screaming as soon as they walked past, and it just confirmed the fact that they were a really big deal, not just another random band. Everybody had told me I had to get their attention so they would come to me, but it didn’t seem necessary. I made eye contact with the man with teal hair and he smiled before bringing along the rest of the band. This was a lot easier than I expected. I thought they might have been difficult to get to me, but apparently I didn’t even have to try.

“So, who are you wearing?” Teal-haired guy asked me, holding his studded leather jacket with both his hands while he was wearing it, leaning forward to closely get to the microphone I was holding.

“Target,” I chuckled without any shame. So what I go shopping at Target as well. Just because I was able to afford it, did not mean I was going to wear designer clothes when I could find something that was much better and cheaper?

The guy that had a white stripe through the left side of his hair, while wearing black sunglasses, looked very disbelieving. “No way, liar!”

“Ok, fine,” I rolled my eyes playfully and held my hat tightly to show what I meant, “the hat is from Target, but everything else is under 30 dollars, except the shoes, because shoes are expensive as fuck--” I froze when I said that word. Was I allowed to say that? Where was the footage actually going? With all the interviews I had done throughout my career and different rules being throw at me, I didn’t know what I could and couldn’t say. So, I quickly turned to the cameraman with wide eyes. “Can I say that?”

“It’s the internet.” The guy who I only briefly met before we started rolling shrugged, not looking away from the camera.

The man with the black and white button up shirt and crazy colored hair ripped the microphone from my hands, uttering several swear words like he had done this many times before… which he probably had done. There was no way these guys had only done several interviews before. These guys had been around for 12 years! (Yes, my research skills really were on point).

Before continuing the interview, I handed each of the guys a microphone, even though I knew one of them barely talked, one would try to talk, but the other two would steal the entire spotlight (not on purpose, but it was just their personalities that made them more outgoing that the others). I just wanted them to have to ability to talk freely and not only have the person with the microphone being able to talk. And of course, I had one for myself as well. It might have been my first time interviewing, but I wasn’t that stupid.

“So, first things first,” the guy with a white formal shirt and a tie said before anybody else could start saying something, “we first need to test you. Do you know our names?”

I shook my head at his bluntness. Of course, they would believe that I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing in this place. But I had a manager that was kind enough to prepare me. I could not even imagine how big of a disaster this would have been if I knew nothing. So, I grinned at him, acting like it was no big deal that I actually knew something. “Well, I’ve met Cassadee before, so I know you’re Rian.” That was sort of bending the truth. Yes, I had met her before, and yes she did tell me about her boyfriend, Rian. But I didn’t know him because of that. I only made the connection after finding out my basic fanpage facts.

“I’m impressed.” He nodded, giving me an approving look. It was well-known that Rian would often be ignored when they just started taking off, so this might have been different for once.

I acted like I didn’t know any of the other names, but soon quickly said who was who. Even these guys seemed surprised with my knowledge, which I was pretty proud of. Seriously, I even couldn’t remember lines as easily as this. It was like this was some weird miracle that was saving my life. So far, I actually liked this scene way more than where I was, and I could see myself being into this a lot. All the music was amazing and I actually liked the grungy/rock style. It was way different from all the red carpet shit going on whenever I was at an award show. There was a lot less pressure here.

“I actually have a couple of your songs on my phone,” I chuckled when Jack’s eyes went wide and he gasped. Yes, it was true. I did have a couple of their songs, but I didn’t think much about the artist. It was more of an I-like-this-song-so-I-will-buy-it kind of thing. But now I also knew exactly who they were.

“But you don’t have all of our songs?” Alex pouted teasingly while shaking his head at me. “How dare you!?”

“I’m sorry, guys,” I shrugged, acting like I was trying to play it off like it was no big deal, “I’ll make sure to fix that when I get back to my hotel.”

And that’s when I decided to actually start the interview. Nobody would watch this just to see me having a nice conversation with their idols. I was sure nobody was going to watch it for me; I wasn’t that interesting, or at least I didn’t make myself seem that way.

After talking a bit about their new album, Future Hearts, and the awards they were nominated for, we finally got to the random questions that were for fun, you know, the useless questions that everybody enjoys. Even I enjoyed it more when interviewers asked me those questions than actual questions about the new movie I was starring in. Sure, the other questions were also important, but they were so repetitive. So, I hoped these guys felt the same way.

“So, guys, what is the most reckless thing you guys have done?” I asked them since it was one of the questions I had to ask them. I knew they had been asked this question so often before because of the song Reckless and The Brave. But I still had to do what I was told.

“Alex smashed a TV on my birthday,” Jack started speaking for his best friend, “we were in a new hotel and he got a bit too intoxicated. Let’s just say we are banned from that place now.” I laughed, even though I knew that that was going to be their answer. In the interviews that I had watched, they always gave that answer. But what I didn’t expect was Jack to return the question. “What about you?”

So, I just gave my classic answer as well. I really had to be careful with what I said, or else I would get more shit than I already was getting. “Umm, probably move from Kentucky to LA and not go to college to film a movie that was basically a spin-off of High School Musical. Luckily that turned out well.”

“Oh, come on,” Rian nudged with a playful smirk, “there must be something better!”

“Definitely.” I nodded without beating around the bush or lying. “But I don’t think I can even say it on the internet. It goes way too far, even for all the peeps on Reddit out there. Let’s just say it involves my bachelorette party. I’m very surprised that nobody found out about what happened. I would have been in so much trouble if somebody did.”

“Now you’re making me curious.” Jack pouted, wanting me to go into more detail. But there was no way I was going to say it in public. It would just make the whole divorce situation worse. I would be accused of so many things leading up to it.

“Well, I bet your husband didn’t like whatever you did.” Alex laughed, bending over slightly as the sound escaped his lips. What he said actually really surprised me. Didn’t they know?

“Ex-husband, actually,” I told him, earning a surprised look from the four of them, “well, almost ex-husband. I’m surprised you guys don’t know that because everybody had been bugging me about it. But, no, he didn’t mind.”

Alex looked at me with guilty eyes and a small frown, before apologizing, “oh, I’m sorry, I really didn’t know.”

“Don’t be sorry about it.” I chuckled at his honestly sympathetic face and sorry demeanor, “People only know about it now, but it’s been going on for a very very long time… Anyway, this isn’t about me, but you guys! So, I’ll continue to the next question, who’s your celebrity crush?”

They all seemed relieved and Alex smirked when I asked them the specific question. It was like he was brewing some evil plan underneath that electric blue hair. And what he said next confirmed it. “Jack’s celebrity crush is you.”

I looked Jack dead seriously in the eye after he had confirmed it with a laugh, joking about Matt Damon also being one of them. “You’re mine.” I continued to stare at him before breaking out in a grin myself.

“A match made in heaven!” Rian exclaimed, stepping in the middle of the group before returning back to his original spot.

“I can’t have celebrity crushes,” I chuckled, not even actually having a crush on anybody at that moment. I mean, why would I? I had been -- wait, still legally was -- married. Travis might have done stuff with other girls, but I definitely never got together with any other guys. “I know them all; they have my phone number. I can’t have that happening! But I can deal with Jack being my celebrity crush from now on. He was a pretty awesome Jack Skellington tattoo, which I can deal with.”

The other guys briefly mentioned their celebrity crushes, and somehow we ended up talking about who was the most famous person they had in their contacts. Alex answer by saying that it was probably Pete Wentz or Mark Hoppus, which was pretty impressive. Those two guys were idols for him, so it must have been amazing to personally know them. Jack, however had other plans.

He took out his phone and it looked like he was searching through his contacts, but he wasn’t. Actually, he had thought of the best thing anybody could do in that situation. He handed me the device and started talking before I could even look at the screen. “You, as soon as you give me your number.”

“I see how it is.” I simpered, casually putting my number in the contact details. I gave myself the name Stevie (not wonder), making a joke about the name I would often be called at school, although Stevie was only my nickname. Before handing the phone back, I took a weird selfie for the profile picture.

“Gotta make sure it’s real.” Rian poked Jack in a joking manner. Jack actually called the number and not even a second later, my own phone started buzzing and ringing in the pocket of my leather jacket. I answered the call, putting in on speakerphone so you could hear Jack talking.

“Now I’ve got your phone number as well.” I laughed, saving his number quickly so I wouldn’t forget later. “Don’t you dare abuse it.”

Since I realized Zack wasn’t really joining our conversation, and I knew that he was the rather shy one, I decided to start a conversation with him. He had recently posted on twitter that he was going to move to Hawaii, so I asked him a couple of questions about that, since I lived there for six months once when I was filming a movie. When talking to him about something he was very passionate about, he actually seemed to like to talk. I was happy I seemed to find a way. It was so sad seeing interviews where the interviewer would completely ignore the band members that talked less.

“So, before we end this, I’ve got to ask you one more question,” I told them, realizing we had been talking for a very long time. I had been holding them up, and I was not supposed to do that. These interviews were supposed to be short! But they kept giving me long answers and we would get so sidetracked, you couldn’t really blame me for the whole thing; the were also partially to blame. “Vampires or unicorns?” I smirked, knowing how much Alex hated that question.

“Fuck this, I’m out.” Alex dropped his mic, walking away with a laugh. It wasn’t meant to be rude, and it was the perfect way to end this interview. But what was said next made my day.

“No, Alex, wait, I want to continue talking to her!” Jack called out after the lead singer, pouting when he didn’t return.