the Reckless and the Brave (Sequel to Scream, to be Heard)

Birthday Blues

I woke up the next morning, remembering the guys went out to the bar last night. I looked around. Zack and Rian were the only ones in their bunks, but Alex and Jack were slumped on the couches. I walked over to Alex and woke him up. "Whoa, hangover," he said, clutching his head. "Morning." He took a pill and drank some water, kissed my forehead, then woke up Jack and handed him a pill and cup. Jack took it, then moved to his bunk and slept some more. Alex motioned for me to sit down next to him. "Happy birthday," He said, giving me a hug.

"Thanks, Alex!" I said. He handed me his laptop, which had a Youtube video pulled up. It was from his account. The title was Happy Birthday Heather Raeleigh Gaskarth <3, and the description was telling everyone that it was my 14th birthday. I clicked play. On the screen, to the song With Me by Sum 41, was a slideshow of pictures of us, some with Mom and Dad in them as well. With a video overlay, the audio muted and an old home video of a fifteen year-old Alex and a four year-old me playing around. He started playing the chords of Don't Stop Believin' and I started singing it really loud, and he started laughing. Then it faded to black, and the song faded. I jumped up and gave him a hug, wiping a tear that had formed away.

"It was nothing, just a little magic with iMovie," he said. I punched his arm. "Now go get all gussied up, we're going out."

"Okay. Like jeans and a t-shirt, or like dress?"

"Either is fine," he said. I slid back to my suitcase and picked out a cropped baggy gray shirt and a pair of shorts, then put on a pair of flip-flops and walked back out of the bathroom. "You look nice." He and the guys got dressed and we went over to IHOP and ate breakfast. Well, more like lunch since it was about noon. After that we had to help Alex figure out how to order us a couple of plane tickets for tomorrow, which took about an hour. "Okay, our plane tickets to London are bought, and will be printed out in a few seconds," he said, clicking the print button. "Now go get ready because the meet and greet is in an hour or so." I jumped up from the couch and changed into a white Snow Patrol t-shirt and a pair of high-waisted Billabong shorts with Alex's old holey converses, and we went to go to the Meet and Greet. I met Gary, who was really nice and funny. He said he was actually a fan of both of our music, and that he saw my cover of Chasing Cars a while ago and said it was really nice. I got an autograph and a picture with Gary and a picture with Jonny and Nathan, and then we went back to eat before the concert. Then they popped the question.

"Hey, so we were wondering if you would mind singing Set the Fire to the Third Bar with us. It's kind of awkward without a girl's voice in it, and yours would sound so perfect," he said. I nodded.

"Yeah, sure! That would be amazing, since that's my favorite song by you guys. It's just so cool with the harmonies," I said. "I think I know it well enough."

"That's great. Just tell the security that you're singing the song with us, he'll lead you backstage. Be there by five for soundcheck. Your brother can watch from backstage or from the sound producer's box," he said. I nodded and gave them my number in case anything happened and left to go eat dinner with Alex and the guys.

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They decided to go ahead and give me some presents before our food got there, so I was really excited about that. My present from Rian was a pack of over 100 neon-colored bracelets in almost every color imaginable. My present from Jack was a necklace with a 'drink me' bottle from Alice in Wonderland, which I loved. Zack got me a Nikon 1 camera, which I had wanted since it came out. Then Alex got me a new iPhone 4s, which already had a slide-out keyboard add-on and three really cool cases to go with it. Plus he had pre-loaded all my music and some apps on it, the lock screen being the picture of me on his back in Teen Vogue and the wallpaper being neon-colored piano keys. I gave Alex a kiss on the cheek and the guys a hug and then ate. Then I put Jack's necklace on and took a few pictures with the camera and put a wooden Glamour Kills case on the phone and stuck it in my pocket as we headed off to the concert. We did soundcheck and then I went backstage and changed into a gray Toms tank top and kept the shorts, and put a red beanie on my head with one of Alex's red button up over the tank as well as knee-high converse. Then I went onstage as I was told, and sang the song. It sounded amazing. Gary's voice was even better live, and I could feel an adrenaline rush in me as we finished the song and he gave me a hug, and I spotted Alex in the producer's box. I left the stage and watched the rest of the concert, where they performed Run,  Chasing Cars, You're All I Have, and How To Be Dead. The rest of the concert was amazing, and after it was over we went back to the bus.