The West Coast is the Only Home I Want

All I Want is Beautiful

Chapter 3: Keep it Beautiful

Notes:

This is for Emilie6803love who sent me like seven messages to update. the chapter is okay, sort of a piece that needed to be in there to further the story. I'll update again by Thursday, and I look forward to prompting messages :) YOU'RE FANTASTIC!

Anyway, I still don't own any of these things. If Amarise is an actual thing, I have no problem changing it. Any and all constructive critiques are welcomed. Thank you!

......

Click, click, click.

"Who was that?" Elysia questioned, coming out of the juice store with Kevin, holding a pink and purple smoothie. Jackson looked back at her, turned around and placed a hand on her back. The curly blonde hair swung back and forth as the woman walked down the light sidewalk.

"I.....I think it was Chanel," Jackson was so confused.

They were scheduled to be at The Fantasy Factory in an hour to shoot. Elysia was going to record in their studio, giving both her and The Factory crew shared advertising. Ely was excited to see the people she'd spent years killing time watching before going on stage.

"Really? That's cool. You wanted orange, right?" Kevin, the bleach blonde roadie, handed the drink over whilst slurping on blue freezing goodness.

"Yeah, thanks kid." Kevin grimaced at Jackson's reply.

"19." He mumbled.

Ely looked on at them, slowly drinking the frothy berry drink. They continued to go back and forth for a few minutes, the subject changing with every new retort.

"Hey, guys?" She spoke up, her slightly numb tongue making the words lisp. They both stopped and looked over. "Shouldn't we start getting it together? We still need to get back to the bus before we head out."

Always the voice of reason, the boys listened.

There the trio went, headed out to the venue which graciously allowed them to park there. They'd do a free show for them, letting the local bands open. It didn't take too long, but by the time they got back they had twenty minutes to get to the Factory on time. Jackson hopped into the front, Kevin shooting Ely a grin before following to continue their earlier argument.

Ely sat down on the window seat, feeling the bus lurch beneath her. Knees curling to her chest, Ely watched the buildings and road speed by. She was an 18 year old girl with too high a metabolism, dull brown hair, and charisma lacking blue eyes. But goddamn, she could sing. When she finally let go of all the loneliness and fear, she let those notes reverberate over the audience in such a way which made thousands cry. She didn't have a tragic back story, nor a tragic current story. She was just sad. Empty. And no one seemed to notice. But that made everything so much more interesting.

A larger building struck Ely out of her inner turmoil. Bright blue letters told her that they had arrived and, after looking at the wall clock, they were directly on time. The garage door opened just as the bus parked across three parking spaces, encroaching upon a forth. Five people walked out to greet them. Jackson went down the stairs first to hold the door, Ely following as always, and Kevin took up the back.

A wide grin lit up Rob's face. "Welcome to The Fantasy Factory, Amarise!"

At the mention of Ely's stage name, or rather a name she had used since Five For Fighting gave her the idea to name her music like a group, she gave a toothy smile.

"Hello! I'm Jackson, her manager. That's Kevin, our roadie." The man gave a nod of head, smiling at the group. "And this is Ely, the woman herself." He slung an arm around her shoulders, giving a squeeze.

"I'm Rob. These guys are Big, Drama Beats, Big Cat, and the lovely Chanel West Coast!" He was entirely excited for this.

They'd all been fans of Amarise since the music exploded onto the scene. When he'd met Ely at the MTV Music Awards, he used the thirty seconds of contact wisely. A similar route to their seats turned into Rob asking her to come record at his studio. To his delight, she had agreed.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Ely told them politely. Her eyes drifted to a certain blonde bombshell. The other girl wasn't paying complete attention though.

"Aren't you Band-Aid Guy?" She asked, pointing at Jackson in an almost accusatory way. Jackson was struck for a moment, gaping confused at her. He blinked a few times before regaining his composure, not used to such random outbursts.

"Yes. Yes, I am. How's the...um...everything?" Jackson tried.

"Sore." Was her only response. Rob looked at her questioning.

"S'pose you would be." He was obviously feeling slightly awkward. A few moments passed.

"Alright," Rob's voice was slightly higher, in that 'oh-dear-Jesus-this-is-a-weird-conversation' way. "Why don't we go in? Get you started up with Drama in the booth?" He directed his question to Ely.

"That sounds wonderful." She walked out from under Jackson's arm, following alongside the Fantasy group to indoors. Chanel was slightly behind her right side, so Ely looked over and gave a reassuring smile. "He's used to taking care of people. Your independence threw him for a loop," and winked. Chanel let a smile spread across her face.

That was the first thing Ely ever said to Chanel. The first words Chanel would spend hours over thinking. Wondering if that meant Ely wasn't independent, and if so, why not? And did Ely like her independence? Was it a bad thing? Was Ely clingy? And what was with "...threw him for a loop," anyway? And why did Ely wink?!

Chanel watched as Drama put a hand on Ely's lower back, guiding her up the steps and stairs, leading her to the booth. She bit her gloss slathered lip softly, turning away. She ignored the knowing look from Big Ca- Scott, as she walked pass his cage.

Ely was beautiful. Chanel liked beautiful.