THE HAPPIEST GIRL | JENLISA

Chapter 1

Jennie

My feet anxiously drag across the concrete as I make my way towards the arena. To say that I'm anxious would be an understatement. Not only am I about to meet dozens of new faces, I am also about to meet Lisa Manoban who is probably the biggest heart throb and popstar on the planet right now.

Don't get me wrong, I'm used to hanging around band guys and roadies. I've been on the road since I was a little girl and essentially went full time when I was about sixteen, and I'm now twenty years old. I've been accompanying my older brother Jin and his band - Velvet Concord, on the road for years. However, their shows have always been in small bars and venues. The biggest gig they've gotten so far is getting to play on the small stage at Vans Warped Tour for the past two years. While they've gained quite a following, they are nowhere near arena status, hence making this a whole new level for me.

My dad is the manager of my brother's band and has been since day one, but he used to manage a hand full of other bands back in the day. He dropped everything when he found out that Jin and his friends were serious and fully committed to starting a band.

At just fourteen years old, their band started recording and writing in a makeshift studio in our home basement. Every day after school they would practice and record their songs for hours, and when they weren't in our basement, they were out trying to book any place that would let them play, which was a struggle living in Ohio. Regardless, they worked their asses off to get to where they are today.

When I was fifteen, they finished their very own EP full of original songs and gained a social media following. After showing tremendous progress over a few years, Ohio just wasn't cutting it for them to progress further. That's when my dad dropped everything and we took a leap of faith. We packed up all of our things and moved to Nashville to push the EP and get the boys some proper exposure.

Almost every night, Jin and his friends were out somewhere on Broadway and the surrounding area competing with hundreds of other musicians to be heard. Despite being more of a pop punk band in a country-music dominated city, they did fairly well and even scored a record deal within a year and started touring.

How I ended up getting the gig of being Lisa Manoban's assistant is still beyond me. Long story short, my dad is good friends with a guy who is a sound technician for Lisa, and he overheard that her manager is looking for a young and fresh new assistant who can stay on top of everything. He ended up throwing my name out there and long behold with the years of experience which I already had under my belt, I was a perfect fit and hired on to the team by Lisa's manager.

I absolutely love touring and working with my brother's band either it be as their assistant, merch girl, or whatever they happen to need, but it's not really getting me anywhere. Hell, I hardly get paid even when I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off. At least working for Lisa Manoban's team, I'll be getting paid a decent amount, along with getting to travel the world. My dream is to be a manager like my dad, and in order to do that, I have to branch out and work from the bottom up.

I didn't realise that my feet slowed to a halt and I was gawking up at the arena until a big hand claps against my shoulder, shaking me from my gaze.

"You good, kiddo?" my dad asks as he slings his whole arm over my shoulders.

"Yeah." I lie, peering up at him. My voice gives me away though, projecting my uncertainty.

"Oh, kid. You're going to be fine." he says giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "You're going to do great."

"I hope so." I mumble.

"Hey." he says, removing his arm from around my shoulders to stand directly in front of me. He places his large hands firmly on each of my shoulders and ducks his head a bit to look me in the eyes.

"I know this is scary for you, but you can do it. It's not going to be much different from what you're used to. Well, unless the popstar is a total ass that can't do anything for herself. I swear, if she takes too much advantage of you or has you doing the most ridiculous shit, I'm going to kick her ass. I don't care how pretty she is."

The fear I now hold must have flashed through my eyes.

"No, no. That's not going to happen." he quickly says, instantly regretting his joke. "I was just kidding. But come on, Jennie. You know what I've always told you."

"You can do anything you set your mind to." we say in unison.

"That's my girl." he says, flashing me a comforting smile.

That has always been my dad's number one motto. He really believes that you can do anything you set your mind to or be whatever you want, if you work hard enough for it. That's why he dropped everything when he found out that Jin was serious and ready to take his little garage band out into the world.

My dad believes in living your life to the fullest. The word limitations is not in his vocabulary. He always tells us to live our lives without regrets and do whatever makes us happy, no matter what anyone else thinks. He instilled his beliefs onto us at such a young age. I remember when I was five and all I wanted to be in life was a princess. I was so set on being a princess that my dad never once dismissed my crazy dream or even gave me a hint of doubt that it was essentially impossible just to prove his point.

He always lets me run around the house, and even go out in public, with my frilly princess dress and tiara on. Not once was he ashamed to let me be seen in my desired attire or told me no. He even built me an entire castle in the back yard from cardboard boxes. Then, he went as far as making Jin's best friend Suga dress up as my 'Prince Charming' just to humour me.

Trust me, Suga, who is still my brother's best friend and guitarist in the band, doesn't let me live it down. He calls me princess to this very day to make me turn crimson red with embarrassment.

"So, what do you say, kid? Ready to get this show on the road?"

I let out a long breath that I didn't know I was holding in. "Yeah, let's go."

My dad gives my shoulders one more brief squeeze and grabs one of my suitcases before we make our way to the back entrance of the arena. When we round the last corner to get to the back lot entrance my eyes go wide. There are countless semi-trucks full of equipment and pieces of the stage. There are also a number of tour buses to hold the big crew that I'm about to join.

It takes everything in me not to turn around and run. This is insane. How am I going to handle all of this madness and fit in? This is nowhere near what I'm used to. For every tour that my brother has been on we've always had to grind it out in a twelve passenger van. Sometimes with no air-conditioning, which was brutal. Now, I'll be in an actual tour bus, most likely with heating and cooling, with my own bunk. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

Just as I was getting used to the idea, I notice all the barricades around the perimeter of the back lot. They're holding back all the fans waiting outside to possibly get a glimpse of Lisa Manoban, only to be disappointed to see countless of roadies and security guards running around everywhere.

I do my best to make my way through the crowd to gain the attention of a security guard, but it's no use. These fans are not going to budge one tiny bit. My dad lets out a loud whistle, gaining attention from nearly everyone in the area. He takes the tour lanyard and I.D. hanging from my neck to wave it in the air to get the attention of one of the security guards. My face turns beet red when all eyes snap to us.

"Let them through!" one of the large men in a neon yellow shirt with the word 'Security' plastered on the front and back booms. He slightly nudges some of the fan girls out of the way so he can get us through to the gate.

I receive countless glares and "Who is she?", "What are they doing here?", "Who does she think she is?" from the crowd. I mutter some apologies as me and my dad shove our way in pass the fan girls to get to security.

The security guard carefully looks at my backstage pass and then nods his head in the general direction of the arena, letting us through the gate, signalling for us to go ahead inside.

This is it. No turning back. Here we go.