driver's license // r.h.

Chapter 17

Alexis pov

I pressed the last key on the piano and stopped my recording. I smiled to myself, proud of what I had just created. I checked my phone to see it was February 13th and now a little past 4:00am. In a few hours, Sarah and Max would be flying to LA for my EP release party. I've been living in LA since January 19th and have finished writing and producing all 6 songs on my EP since then. So why am I in my studio at 4:00am? Simple answer: I couldn't sleep. My first EP is coming out at 11:00 tonight and I couldn't be more nervous. I tried to go to bed early by 9:30 last night so I could wake up early enough to meet Sarah and Max at the airport, but I tossed and turned all night. Around midnight I gave up on sleep and rolled out of bed. I threw on my shoes and called an uber. I knew both the boys and Ryan would kill me for walking alone at 12:00 in the morning. Speaking of the boys and Ryan, they are doing great. Ryan released his EP February 1st and it did amazing! He gained so much popularity from it and was gaining listeners everyday. I was so incredibly proud of him! The boys have been all over radio stations and have been doing lots of interviews lately. On top of that, all of us have been practicing for tour everyday. Somedays, we have to practice 12 hours straight! It's been a lot of hard work, but it has paid off.

We perform our first show on April 1st and I am so excited! Me and Ryan are releasing our song together sometime before that, but we haven't agreed on a date yet. We were talking about it yesterday before I had to leave for a meeting with Mr. Kallman and Eric but he got a phone call from his new girlfriend. Yeah, he has a new girlfriend. I haven't met her yet, and I don't know much about her, but Ryan invited her to my release party tonight. Me and Ryan have gotten even closer, and somehow, my feelings for him have grown even more. Sure, it hurt to know he had a new girlfriend, but I had to remind myself I also have a boyfriend. Max and I are going strong, we facetime almost everyday and he always texts me at random times. I'm super happy with my relationship, and I am so excited to see him today!

Even though I've been super busy getting my EP ready, I have had time to hang out with the boys and Ryan a lot. We have been to the mall, the beach, and skateboarding a ton together. We do movie marathons, and plenty of sleepovers. At this point, we all just sleep together in my living room, or they take a guest bedroom or two whenever they sleep over. Last night, we were all busy so everyone went to their own place. That led to me not sleeping because of my nerves and going to the studio at 12:00am. Music has always been there for me and it always calms me down. I just wrote the lyrics to a song about how nervous I am for putting my music out there. I decided to add a piano in there and surprisingly, it sounded really good. I have to meet Sarah and Max at the airport by 6:00, so I don't have enough time to go to sleep. I yawned and stretched, oh well, it happens. Maybe I can take a nap before tonight. I closed my song book and gathered my stuff. All of a sudden, the door opened and I jumped as Ryan walked in. He seemed shocked to see me, but didn't hesitate to give me a smile."Hey Lexi, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I couldn't sleep, how about you?" I asked.
"I woke up a while ago and just stayed awake," he said, walking over to me. "How are you feeling about tonight?" he asked with a grin.
"Super nervous," I admitted.
"Why?"
"Well what if people don't like my music?" I asked, rubbing my hand through my hair.
"Alexis, everyone is going to love it. You have worked so hard on this EP and have poured your heart and soul into it. You have spent hours everyday for the past month getting this ready. You are the most talented person I know and have the voice of an angel," he said. By now, our faces were only inches apart. My heart was beating so fast I thought it would burst. I looked up and got lost in his eyes, feeling like nothing else mattered in the moment. "You have really pretty eyes," he noted. I blushed and looked away. "And you're cute when you blush," he grinned. I felt my body naturally pull closer to Ryan. We both started to lean in before I noticed what I was doing. I am not a cheater! I can't do that to Max! I instantly forced myself to pull back, as much as I wanted to kiss his perfect lips. He looked confused, and I felt so guilty.
"I uh, have to go get ready to pick up Sarah and Max from the airport," I said while gathering my stuff to head out.
"Oh, okay." I could hear the disappointment in his voice. "I'll see you later," he said.
"See ya," I said before bolting out of there. I needed to clear my head, that is the second time Ryan and I almost kissed!

The sun was still not out since it was around 4:00 in the morning, so I had about two hours to kill before heading to the airport. I knew it would be unfair to wake Jeremy up at this time to drive me (since I STILL don't have my drivers licence), so I just called another uber. Even if it wasn't that fair, it made me feel more safe. I arrived outside the coffee shop and walked in to see only one other person: Cassidy. She heard me come through the door and looked up. "Hey Lexi!", a warm smile appeared on her face. After Ryan broke up with her over a month ago, I still came to the cafe because the coffee was amazing. Cassidy handled the break up very well, considering she didn't feel a connection anymore either. It made me feel a lot less guilty knowing Ryan broke up with her because of his feelings for me. I would consider me and Cassidy friends and someone I can rant about random things to at 4:00am.
"Hey Cassidy!" I greeted back.
"Big day huh?" she said.
"Yep, tonight's finally the night!" I replied.
"You know I'll be the first one listening once it comes out!" she said excitedly. We chatted for a while as she made my drink. Since no one was in the shop besides us, we sat down in the back corner to talk some more. Around 5:00am someone came into the cafe and I decided to go to the airport to pick up Max and Sarah. I wanted her to come to the release party, but I thought it would be really awkward with Ryan there.

As soon as I got to the airport, I headed to the washroom. I checked myself in the mirror and tried to not look like I just pulled an all nighter. I fixed my black beanie and splashed my face with cold water and checked my outfit in the mirror.

It wasn't bad considering I changed at 12:00 this morning. I made sure to wear the necklace Max got me and my moon ring from Sarah. I have gotten in the habit of rubbing my necklace when I am nervous. So naturally, being nervous to see my boyfriend for the first time in about a month, I rubbed it with my fingers as I waited for Sarah and Max. I space out until I see a tall blonde athletic figure in the distance standing next to an even taller muscular brunette figure. "LEXI!" I hear from that direction. The blonde drops her bags and sprints towards me. Yep, that is definitely Sarah! I run and meet her in the middle with a giant bear hug.
"Oh Sarebear, I've missed you so much!" I say muffled into her blonde hair.
"I've missed you even more Geek!" she responds.
"Dnag, you two seriously have separation anxiety," Max notes. Sarah pulls away from the hug to glare at him.
"Just because you two are dating doesn't mean I can't have my Lexi time," she says stubbornly. Max walks up to me with his charming smile and I feel the butterflies flutter in my stomach.
"Hey princess," he says before leaning down to give me a kiss. It's a kiss I have been deprived of for a month. I kissed back and could feel a smile growing on his face.
"Ew, get a room," Sarah muttered. We pulled back and laughed at her. "You guys make me feel so single," she whined.