Beautiful Mess

Chapter 22

"Oh my god, Chase. I've never seen so many people," Tiffany raved. I glanced over at her in disgust. Chase just smiled and placed his hand on her lower back. I sighed and pressed my head against the window.

It was true. We had never seen so many people at a meet and greet before. Usually ours are after the show, since we are usually late and most of the people travel to go home. It's kind of nice in a way and sad in another. Now, however, there was a sea of people starting at the blocked-off gate, stretching back to the McDonald's about a mile away. I watched in amazement. Surely this many people were not going to be able to come inside.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked. I'm pretty sure the question was directed towards all of us, but I wasn't sure. No one answered. He glanced over at Tiffany and kissed her forehead. For somebody that didn't really like her, he put on a good front.

She smiled and nestled in close to him and I couldn't help but feel like I wanted to yank her hair out. I caught Lucas looking at me but I shook him off. I knew everything he said about Chase was a lie. By the looks of the two of them, there was no way Lucas wasn't lying.

"Crowd surfing anyone?" Ian asked. Chase laughed. "It'd be fun today."

"You know, the last time you tried that, you ended up with a broken nose," Adam interjected. Sonya couldn't help but smirk. I smiled, taken away slightly from my envious thoughts, and pictured Ian crowd surfing and then falling on his face. I laughed.

"That was not my fault," he defended. "That person dropped me."

"That's all there was," Lucas said. Sonya and I died laughing. Ian turned red slightly. I could tell he was embarrassed. I reached over and grabbed his arm.

"If you want to crowd surf, I'll join you," I stated. He smiled.

"Me too," Sonya added.

"It's a dangerous game," he said. "Are you sure you're brave enough?" The image of Ian plummeting to the ground ran through my mind again. I chuckled as Sonya and I nodded. His face lit up. "Then it's settled."

"Not until after we stop," Tom joked. He glanced back and pulled the curtain aside. "We're still moving."

"Like point six miles an hour," Ian pointed out. "We're barely inching."

"There's all these fans in the way," Todd stated. I glanced out the window, watching as all the fans piled closer to the bus. It really did look like a roaring sea. Sonya was pressed against Adam, watching also. He had his arm locked around her shoulder and I felt a slight bit jealous. She glanced over at me, but I adverted my eyes, looking back to the scene before me.

"More the reason to surf," Ian stated. Todd glanced back and shook his head, smiling.

"If you really want to surf, go on ahead. Just know that security won't be right behind you, so you may get mobbed," Todd pointed out. Ian sat there, contemplating. I was secretly hoping he would be against it. I was all for crowd surfing, but I had been mobbed before and it wasn't fun. I was done with being attacked.

"Riley?" Ian asked. I could tell he really wanted me to join. I rolled my eyes and nodded my head. I knew I was going to regret this later, but Ian really wanted me to join him. I felt my heart begin to accelerate as I glanced out into the sea of fans.

"You don't have to," Lucas said. I glanced over at him and narrowed my eyes.

"I am," I snapped.

Everyone glanced over at me in surprise. No one had seen me angry before. It shocked them. Sonya glanced over at me, perching against the side of the bus. I could see she was worried, but at the present moment I didn't care. I had been lied to by a person I really trusted and it hurt. What hurt the most was that I didn't understand why.