It wasthe night of the first concert, and as Cass and I relaxed on the white, square-looking couch, the boys scurried around in the hotel room to get ready. We were staying at the Somerset Hotel in Melbourne. It was very modern, although due to late booking (and the clerks not knowing about Hot Chelle Rae) we got a room with 2 bedrooms, which meant 3 beds for all 6 of us. Ryan had declared as soon as he saw the double bed that it was mine and his, which left the others to sort out arrangements. Turns out that Cass and Jamie got the other bedroom, with two single beds, and Nash and Ian got the two couches in the living area. I was currently on Nash’s bed which was facing the window. We were about 7 stories up and the view was amazing, I saw so many lights. It was quite dark at 6:00 here, so after gazing out of the window I grabbed out my phone. Clicking onto twitter, I snapped a photo of the view and uploaded it. Within a few minutes people started to reply, saying things like ‘welcome!’ and ‘omgomgomg you’re in Australia!’ Of course, there were a few rude replies. I was bound to have a few haters in my 42, 868 followers. Within a day of cute replies on twitter between me and Ryan, I had gained 40, 000. While only following 3,078 I thought that was pretty amazing.
“Okay, we’re going. You guys will be there right? You’ve got the tickets?” Ryan asked from standing at the door of the room.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I replied sweetly, holding two tickets in my hand to show him I had them. It sucked that we weren’t allowed VIP entry or escorts to the front, but we all agreed that it wouldn’t be fair to the fans if we pushed in like that. We’d have to push our way through the concert like last time.
I stood up to grab my bag and make sure I had all the contents I needed. Cass got up too and wished all the boys good luck before going into the bathroom to touch up her makeup. After giving Ryan a quick kiss, I went in there to do the same, but stopped to admire the reflection. I was wearing light blue denim jeans and a white t-shirt with ‘forever young’ printed on it. To go with my jeans I picked a brown belt engraved with swirls. The belt went really well with my brown leather handbag, which also went well with my high-heeled boots. They had a boho pattern on them, one that I really admired. On my head I wore a red bandana, tied at the back and the long strip sat across the top of my head nicely. (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=497762203574937&set=pb.478433512174473.-2207520000.1350736036&type=1&theater) I looked over at Cass, who was wearing something very similar to mine. She had on the same jeans, as we’d bought them together in Nashville, and a black Jack Daniels whiskey shirt with a white blazer. Her shoes were the same design as mine only grey, and as I looked at us both I realised we matched. (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=498837850134039&set=pb.478433512174473.-2207520000.1350735967&type=1&theater) I smiled and leaned in to the mirror, grabbing the powder puff out of her hands and puffing my face a little before placing it back in her hand. Because of her complexion being different to mine, my cheeks were a little darker after applying it. It outlined my cheekbones nicely, so I shrugged and slung my bag over my shoulder and looked over at her through the mirror.
“You ready?” I asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” came her reply.
“You know, I hardly think its fair that we have to be in the back right now. I mean come on! You’re dating Ryan Follese! We should be right up there with him,” Cass grumbled, slinging her shoulders forward and stomping to the doors of the Melbourne Festival Hall. As we were walking through the halls I saw many girls stop and stare. I suddenly felt very self conscious, looking down at my feet and walking behind Cass to hopefully shield myself. We gave in our tickets and got our hands stamped before walking in to a crowd of screaming teenagers. I breathed a sigh of relief, the darkness would mean I wouldn’t get noticed here. Cass stopped and turned around, grabbing my hand so she couldn’t lose me.
“You ready?” She asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” came my reply. I knew I was mimicking her from an hour or so before, but before I could even give her a small smile she yanked me forward into the crowd. We began pushing through a little, before stopping directly in the middle. We stood silently, not saying a word to each other. I opened up my phone case and checked the time, Hot Chelle Rae was supposed to be on at 7:00 and it was 6:52. Eight minutes, maybe even 10 to go. I looked around and saw girls smiling and laughing, even a few guys were here too. One person caught my eye, though, and she was heading straight towards me.
“Oh my god, you’re Blair aren’t you?!” She screeched. I flinched at the sudden noise right in my ear and smiled politely just as she pulled me in for a hug. So much for not being noticed, I thought glumly.
“Yeah, but keep it on the down-low, okay? I don’t want many people to know,” I said while hugging her. I released her and she stepped back.
“Oh, right, right. Um, I was wondering though. Could I get a quick photo?” She already had her camera out, and I looked next to me to see a very miserable looking Cass. I felt like I could read her mind, I knew why she was acting like this. It wasn’t out of jealously, but more like being left out. She felt that I was famous, and she’d be forgotten. But that would never happen.
“Sure,” I replied, grabbing Cass’ arm and pulling her into the photo. She made a confused sound, but as the camera was pointed at her she smiled her dazzling smile. One of the girls friends was taking the photo, and I put my arm around her and Cass’ shoulders while the flash went off.
“Thank you so much! Ah, this is amazing!” The girl started jumping up and down, waving her hands about.
I gave a short laugh. “It’s fine, hope you enjoy the show!” And with that I turned around to face the stage, just as the curtains opened to reveal 4 very familiar boys. They were about 4 minutes early, but that was fine with me. It was obviously fine with all the other people as well, as the screams were louder than they ever were in Nashville. I joined in, loving the feeling of screaming and letting my voice out.
“Hey, hey!” Ryan said through the microphone. “We are glad to be back in Australia!”
I frowned before realising that they’d already performed here, but shook off the thought and went wild with the crowd.
“It’s really amazing out here, but we wanna hear some noise!” Nash yelled, raising his hands and getting cheers from everyone.
“We’re gonna start out the night with a song you all know, and that is…” Ian trailed off as Jamie, who was set up on the drums, made a small drum roll. I looked to see smiles on all faces in the room. “I Like It Like That!”
The music began to play, and I could hear the piano clearly through the speakers. “Let’s get it on, yeah, ya’ll can come along. Everybody drinks on me. Bought out the bar, just to feel like I’m a star, now I’m thanking the academy. Missed my ride home, lost my iPhone, I wouldn’t have it any other way. If you’re with me let me hear you say!”
The crowd began to sing along, as did Nash and Ian. I felt myself singing the song without even realising it, I’d heard this song so many times that I could focus on anything else and still sing it with all words correct.
“I like it like that, hey! Windows down, chillin’ with the radio on. I like it like that, damn, sun’s so hot, make the girls take it all off. I like it like that, yeah! One more time, I can never get enough. Oh, everybody sing it right back, I like it like that.”Ryan held the microphone out into the audience and they sung it back. ‘I like it like that!’ chorused through the room before Ryan started to sing again.
“Till the break of dawn, yeah, party on my lawn. Whistle as the girls walk by. If the cops roll up,” Ryan stopped and held the microphone out again, while the crowd answered his gesture with ‘so what?!’ and Cass and I joined in, screaming it out as loud as we could. “Pour the cops a cup ‘cause everybody’s here tonight. Call a taxi, pack the backseat. I wouldn’t have it any other way, if you’re with me let me hear you say!
“I like it like that, hey! Windows down, chillin’ with the radio on. I like it like that, damn, sun’s so hot, make the girls take it all off. I like it like that, yeah! One more time, I can never get enough. Oh, everybody sing it right back, I like it like that. Eh-oh, eh-oh, eh-oh, eh-oh. Like, eh-oh, eh-oh, eh-oh, eh-oh .Everybody, sing it right back, I like it like that!” The song ended and three of the boys that were standing took a bow, Jamie just held his drumsticks up in the air. The crowd went crazy, we screamed and held our hands in the air.
“Thank you! This song coming up next, is a song that we love, and hopefully you do to, hit it!” Ian shouted, stepping back to his microphone stand and locking in the mic. A series of beats started and we all started to jump around.
“What, what, whatever.”
* * *
A few more songs had passed, and by that I mean about 6. That meant that the night was almost over. I was prepared to watch Hot Chelle Rae exit the stage and then go back to meet them, but I was not prepared for what happened next. Not at all.
“So guys, as you all know,” Ryan began, kneeling on the edge of the stage and causing many fans to reach up and grab him all over. He was sitting there like he was about to tell a heart-warming story. Since the first song, Cass and I had moved up a lot, being about 3 people from the front. Ryan had seen me since then, and as he was saying these words he was looking straight at me. “There is a very special lady in my life right now, and I would just love you all to meet her.”
I froze. Looking around at the other boys, I saw that they weren’t surprised. This was all planned, I thought frantically.
“Blair, would you come up here?” Ryan asked, still keeping his eyes locked on me. I looked around, scared and nervous. Everyone around me was looking at me, and I didn’t know what to do. All of a sudden, the crowd began to chant. ‘Blair, Blair, Blair!’ was all I could hear. As Ryan and Cass were looking at me expectantly, I decided to do what I was asked. I pushed through the girls that stood in front of me and turned my back to Ryan, resting my palms on the stage and hoisting myself up. From there, Ryan grabbed my arm to help me stand. I looked at him frantically, waiting for this to be over so I could go back into my comfort-zone, which was about 4 feet below, on the ground.
“And you know what?” Nash piped in, grabbing his microphone stand and moving in closer to Ryan and I, his guitar around his neck. Ian did the same, although Jamie couldn’t -- but he was quite a lot closer than the two boys were in the first place. “We’ve got a little surprise for you, just sit tight for a few seconds and we’ll get started.” His tone was cheeky, and I did not like it. Ryan turned to face me as the lights went off on the stage. We were basically invisible to the crowd, but I saw many of their faces because of the light that shined off of the screens of their phones.
“Ryan what’s going-“
“Okay, this is what we’re going to do,” he cut me off, while keeping the microphone away from his face to avoid the crowd hearing. “We were going to perform Come Back To California, but I want you to do this with me.” My mouth opened into a small ‘o’, but Ryan reached up and closed it with a playful smile on his face.
“So I take the first line, you take the second. We’ll sing the third one together. Then we swap, you have the first line, I have the second and we both have the third. Chorus is together, then we do the same for the next verses. After Nash’s solo, you’ll sing solo while I’ll clap for the audience to join in, then for the rest of the song we sing together. Sound good?” He quickly went through the instructions, his voice rushed, but I got all of it and shook my head fiercely.
“No, it does not sound good,” I retorted, but instead of lifting me off the stage like I wanted him to, Ryan leaned forward and kissed my cheek before whispering in my ear and handing me a spare microphone.
“Too late, baby. Just have fun.”
The music started and wave of nerves fell over me. I could feel Ryan’s shoulder brush against mine. We were the same height, because of my heels. He was too far away, I wanted him to hold me and tell me I could do it, to tell me he believed in me. I looked out into the crowd of people. There had to be hundreds, thousands even. Ryan gave me a little nudge, and I nudged him back to show him I was okay.
This is it, I’m living my dream.