My Happy Ending (LRH)

Prologue. ACL

The interviewer is polished. Polite and proper. All the things she should be, but she's asking all the wrong questions, and my gears are grinding from the tiring day.

"A lot of people are comparing you guys to 5 Seconds of Summer. They think your start is a little like theirs, with their insistence that they weren't a boyband and their unique blend of pop and punk. What do you say to that?"

It's my turn to talk. I feel the pressure the moment the girls look to me, clearly both biting their own tongues on this one. I don't blame them. It's far from the first time we've been asked this question, and we're all tired of it. My bandmates watch with bated breath for my response because I'm probably the only one who can do it right now. Ana will say something she'll regret, and Cece might cry.

My heart is pounding as I reach out to grab the microphone from Ana, who was extending it like she was revolted by the piece of technology. As if she wasn't most herself in front of a mic.

"At least we write our own music," I grumble.

The moment the words leave my mouth, I know I've made a mistake. To her credit, the interviewer plays it off well enough. She just laughs a little and jumps right into the next question. Ana snatches the microphone back like her livelihood depends on it. I don't blame her. I definitely just got us into trouble.

Later, on the bus, Robin is mad. She's our manager but she's also a bit like our mom. I don't blame her either. She doesn't even look in my eyes as she reprimands me for my unnecessary comment. I don't actually know that 5SOS doesn't write their own music. And I don't know that they'll understand I was mostly joking. I don't know anything and I shouldn't have said that, as Robin repeatedly drills into me that evening on the way back to the hotel.

Safe to say ACL didn't go quite as planned. We were just a measly daytime show. Nowhere near headlining. It was a huge opportunity and there's a pretty palpable tension for the rest of the weekend because I might've just blown it.

Ana doesn't care that much. She probably would've said worse. I can tell Cece's upset though. She was from Texas. Austin specifically. It was supposed to be a special weekend for her. We were supposed to rock the stage and kill the interviews and gain publicity in her hometown. Now all people would be able to talk about was the shade I threw like I had any ground to stand on.

At the airport, while we're waiting for our flight back to LA, Cece is scrolling through twitter, which I consider mistake number one but I digress. She pauses on an article about what I said. The news outlet is comparing us so heavily that I involuntarily roll my eyes because I had created the exact opposite outcome than I'd hoped for. Fans are mad. They're raging, actually.

I've just drawn a line in the sand between my band and a group of boys I'd never even formally met.