“This is ridiculous. I don’t understand why I have to go with you!” I shouted at my brother, his band is going on tour for the summer and I have to attend them.
“It won’t be so bad Anna! Maybe you will make some new friends?” Shane said with that convincing smile of his. “I really want you to come.”
I sigh and nod at him, throwing him the suitcase I had to pack earlier. He jumps up and down while cheering happily, pulling on my hand to lead me outside. The tour bus had been sitting outside for over twenty minutes, waiting on me mostly.
Shane stepped on first, dragging my suit case and his own aboard. I climb the stairs behind him, seeing the rest of the band ready to go. Dennis made his way over to me, grinning like an idiot.
“Anna! We get to party all summer long!” He shouts eagerly, pulling me into a giant hug. I grinned at him, hugging the rest of the guys too.
“She’s going to be more of a party pooper.” I hated the sound of his voice. Without taking a glance in his direction, I could tell exactly who spoke those words.
Shawn Milke. He was the lead singer of my brother’s band, known as Alesana. He and my brother have been friends as long as I can remember, heck I can’t even recall when they had met. Shawn and I have never really gotten along; I’m not sure what I did to make him hate me so much.
Patrick shook his head and whispers to me, “Don’t listen to him. This summer’s going to be great!”
***
Touring for the summer was always to exhausting. The heat, fans, and constant moving around really did some damage to us band mates. Nonetheless, this is the price we had to pay in order to live our dream.
The last show of our tour was creeping up faster than I could count the days. That meant the biggest after party of them all, and I wasn’t going to let Anna Crump ruin it for me.
“Shawn! Dude come on it’s time to get on stage!” Shane shouts as he motions for me to hurry. I nod and grabbed my guitar before glancing out toward the crowd. I spot Anna with a couple friends she met, dancing around happily as we begin to play our show.
It’s amazing how the fans know our lyrics word from word. After we play our encore, we are supposed to meet up to all leave for the after party.
“Anna!” I shout, “What time was we supposed to meet up at?”
She turns around to face me, an expression of disgust present on her face.
“I don’t know. Shouldn’t you be the one to know?”
I scratched my head and sat on the curb. The bus would certainly show up any minute now. I heard Anna take a seat somewhat beside me and look over to see her looking down the street.
“I swear if they left us, I am going to murder whoever is driving.” I mutter, Anna looked in my direction and just nodded.
Soon the dark clouds took over the sky, the moon showed just how dark the sky really was. A relaxed breeze began to pick up, it was chilly too. I shifted my eyes to see Anna shiver, wrapping her arms around herself to try and keep warm.
“Here, wear this.” I stood up and took off my jacket before nudging it toward her. She stood up too, giving me a sour look.
“I’d rather freeze then fucking wear your jacket.”
I froze, not knowing how to respond to that. I knew the girl didn’t like me, but I had no idea she hated me. The sound of her firm voice said it all.
“C’mon, we better get going.”
She glances up at me, a bit confused. “Where are we going?”
“Home.” I respond, tossing her my jacket before turning to walk away.
***
I pull Shawn’s jacket tighter around myself, feeling its warmth made me smile. I pick up my speed to walk next to him. His tallness made it effortlessly for him to take long strides; it took more steps for me to just keep up with him.
“Can you tell me something?” I ask nervously, chewing on my bottom lip. He nods at me so I continue, “What did I do to make you hate me so much?”
I watch as his eyes widen, he shook his head before peaking down at me.
“I’ve never hated you.” He softy spoke, his eyes staring into my own. I shook my head, recalling many times he’s called me out.
“You have always treated me like it.”
He nods but doesn’t say anything right away. He glanced at the ground, looking as if he was trying to put all the right words together in his mind. He slowed his pace and I felt him slipping his fingers through mine. My first thought was to pull away, but I didn’t. Instead I wonder why his touch left my skin on fire.
“Do you remember when we were younger?” He asks, looking over at me every few minutes. I nod as he continues. “Your brother always said if girls are mean to you that meant they liked you.”
I nod, still not quite sure what he meant by this.
“Well, I sort of switched that around. I was always mean to you because I thought that’s how you would know that I..” he trailed off, avoiding my eyes. He has stopped walking and we stood next to a building.
“Say it, out loud.” I encourage as I squeeze his hand in my own. His dark eyes met mine and I could see how fearful he was. The emotion of him having any sort of feelings for me made a lump form in my throat.
“Anna, I—“ he paused to gently push me against the building. His hands on my face wiping away the tears that started to escape. “I love you.”
He leans down and I felt his hot breath on my lips. I shiver at the thought of him so close to me, not to mention the icy air around us. His arms slipped around my waist before he softly pressed his lips to my own. I open my mouth and could tell he wasn’t prepared for this. My fingers found his hair and we both pulled back to breathe in some air.
“Shawn I—“ He cut me off short before kissing me deeply again.
“Don’t, just promise me something. Promise me that this will never change.” He pointed toward his heart then to mine. “I want this to work.”
I nod and look into his dark eyes, seeing the amusement in them, “I promise.”
He smirked then leans down to plant one on me. “What do you think the guys will say?”
I giggle as we begin to walk again, his arm around my shoulders.
“I can only imagine how bad they’re gonna tease us.”
He laughs as a car headlights shine on us. The driver steps out and the sudden fit of laughter from inside came out loudly.
“We have been looking all over for you two.” Dennis chuckles, “What’s up with that?” He pointed to our laced fingers and Shawn held that huge smirk of his.
“We are together, now.”
I rolled my eyes as Shawn chuckles before leaning down to kiss me gently.
I blushed as he whispered, “Let’s go back to my place.”
