One Hundred Sleepless Nights

1

I stand in the crowd looking up at the band in front of me. Just four guys jumping around the stage with instruments. It shouldn't feel as surreal as it. They're already playing their last song of the set, but they play it with such dedication that it feels like its their last song they'll ever play.

I've seen them a million times before, each show seemingly better than the last one. I'm not the only one who thinks so either judging on how many people are beside me. Their first show had about 30 people at it, me being one of them, but now I'm standing in a theatre that's jammed pack with people who are all screaming their songs along with them, pushing the crowd into a rhythm of excitement, hoping that this moment never ends.

But it does, and when it does, hundreds and hundreds of people pour out through the theatre doors on their ways home, all buzzing with excitement from the show. I can't lie, I'm buzzing too. I step outside the theatre, the night now darker and cooler now than it was before the show started. I gaze at the sea of people heading towards the subway just blocks away. There's groups of people buzzing about the show, talking excitedly about the songs and the band members.

For a second I almost join them, that's how contagious their excitement is, but instead of heading towards the subway, I go to the side door of the venue and knock on it.

A couple curious fans join me in the alley hoping for a chance to see the guys. The door opens, a guy who I'm assuming is one of the techs is on the other side looking annoyed. He glances up and down at me for a second before he moves aside to let me step in.

"Get in." he says and pulls me by the arm, closing the door before any of the other screaming fans can enter.

"Thats no fair!" someone shouts from the other side of the door while pounding on it.

"Jaime was waiting for you." the tech guy says as we walk quickly down a hallway, the sound of screaming fans fading out with each step we take.

All around us people are moving quickly. The equipment is being put back into cases, wires are being wrapped up, speakers are being wheeled away so quickly that it seems almost unnatural. There's people with clipboards and mics with headsets, most of them looking frustrated. There's a lot of pointing, a lot of yelling orders. Its a lot.

"You could've just come backstage from the floor." the guy I'm with says.

"I know, I just think its more fun like that." I say with a grin. "I'm Alia."

I stress the pronunciation on my name so its clear. A lot of people call me "Ali-a" but its actually "A-lee-a". Its my biggest pet peeve when people get it wrong. Sometimes I want to change the spelling of it to Alea, but its not really worth the trouble at the end of the day and honestly they would probably still get it wrong anyways so whats the point.

"Come through the right way next time." he says giving me a look. "Alia." he adds to show that he heard me. He doesn't offer a name back.

"You're not very friendly." I say to him, walking faster to keep up with him as we go through this never ending set of hallways.

"Its this one here." he says as we stop in front of a door that has the name Pierce the Veil on the side of it. "Have fun."

I don't know why, but I'm nervous to go through and see them. I haven't seen Jaime in two years, and even though I know its going to be fine, I feel a weird feeling in my stomach. Maybe he doesn't want to see me after all this time. Maybe he realized that he didn't miss me at all these past two years. God, I haven't been this nervous ever.

I take a deep breath and right before I go to open the door, someone yells at me.

"Hey! What are you doing back here?"

I turn and see Tony, Pierce the Veil's guitar player. He's all sweaty from the set and he looks a mix of tired and annoyed.

"Oh, hey!" I say, putting my hand out to be nice. "So nice to meet you."

"Hey." he says, taking my hand anyways because he's a gentleman. "You're supposed to be with someone if you're back here."

"I'm with you right now, aren't I?" I ask, tilting my head innocently.

Tony's cheeks turn to a soft pink colour. His gaze slides to the side ever so slightly, embarrassed from the attention and flirtation. He glances back at me for a second, but as our eyes contact again his go back to the ground, and just like that I know that I have a chance here.

"You should be within someone's supervision." Tony says. "I'm not that person."

"But you could be in the meantime." I flirt back. "Tony, right?"

"Ah, so you know who I am." he says, running a hand through his hair. It falls back perfectly in place, held together by sweat and memory.

"Of course I do. It would be crazy if I were here yet didn't know who you are."

I take a glance behind me to see if anyone else is here with us. I can't be shamelessly flirting with a crowd watching. I know some people would not approve of it, and I don't want to cause trouble so early in the night. Luckily for me, we're mostly alone in the hallway with the exception of a few techs and general overworked crew tech who are too busy to listen or even care.

"Thats another reason why you gotta get out of here." Tony says. "You seem great, but groupies aren't-"

"Whoa, hey, I'm not a groupie." I say, cutting him off.

"Then what are you?"

"What do you want me to be?" I retort, surprising myself at how quick that was.

There comes that blush again, but this time its accompanied with a look of slight annoyance. I guess I pushed it too hard. I always do.

"Look, I'm sorry but I'm very tired and just want this night over with. You're very beautiful, but I'm not interested, not tonight."

"Not tonight?" I ask, a devilish grin on my face.

Before I can add more flirtation to my next sentence, my phone buzzes in my pocket. Its Jaime.

hey, change of plans. I need to deal with something. Raincheck?

I know that my entire face changes reflecting my disappointment. I can't hide it even if I tried. This is the first time we were going to see each other in two years. I get that things come up, but man this sucks. I feel like I broke our relationship years ago and its never going to get repaired.

"You okay?" Tony asks, pulling me back to reality.

"Oh." I say, all my flirtation thrown out the window now. "Yeah, I'm fine." I say, giving him my best smile as to not let all my disappoint show. "It was nice meeting you, Tony."

I turn and head back to the door that I had just gone through not even ten minutes ago with the tech guy. Now as I get out theres no more envious fans, theres just the cold chill of the night. How fitting.