Heart Of A Star

Chapter Ten - Natalie

The next morning Rachel was pulling me out of bed at ten, which I personally considered to be the crack of dawn, especially when we had a long night ahead of us. She had clothes already picked out for me. "We're all meeting for breakfast," she explained, as she pulled the covers off of me, "And then as long as we are back by five for the concert, the rest of the day is our's to do what we want with."

I mumbled something that even I couldn't comprehend, and reached for the comforter that was no longer there. Who the hell had fired me and appointed her Itinerary Nazi? I buried my pathetic, sleep-deprived, half-heartbroken head under the pillow. Shit, I thought, I had almost forgotten about the last part...

Yet with a splash or two of cold water, and Rachel's rendition of hotel room made coffee, I was almost presentable to my own friends in my barely-there tube top that matched the belly ring that hung just above my low cut denim shorts. I even faked a smile, just for her, as I eyed myself in the mirror. I knew exactly what she had on her mind when she had pulled these clothes from my dresser. "If it helps," she offered, throwing a sympathetic arm across my shoulders, "Ray-Ray looked pretty damn hot at the pool last night. I forgot how ruggedly sexy he looked half naked..."

I groaned, ducking out from under her arm and out the door as she laughed at me.

I found myself at our table a few minutes later, after what amounted to a really rough elevator ride. There was a small glass of orange juice and an ice-cold bottle of spring water that had appeared in front of me while the rest of my friends were scoping out the breakfast buffet that the hotel had to offer. My hand was the only thing that was holding my head up, as I briefly reminisced about CNC's and limes, followed by Riesling, and then concentrated on sucking my OJ through a straw.

Ray-Ray set a steaming cup of hot coffee in front of me, extra cream, extra sugar, then took a seat next to Josh at the other end of the table. I tried to ignore that fact.

I let the caffeine take hold and I even took a few samples of Callie's muffin that she swore she picked up just for me. It was chocolate chip, which happened to be my favorite.

Pulling myself together, I sat up strait in my chair. "I wanted to just say thank you all for my birthday gift tonight." I had clanged my spoon on my OJ glass like we were at a wedding. "And I have a little surprise for you guys as well." There were five sets of eyes pasted to me suddenly. "My friend who got us these lovely hotel rooms invited us all to a party tonight here at the hotel, after the concert."

I noticed that Ray-Ray and Nathan were looking at each other before Nathan spoke up, "We actually had plans tonight, but thanks for the invite..."

Rachel jumped right in, reprimanding him before I could say another word. "That's a hell of a way to say thank you. You can just change those plans to another night. We'll be down here for a whole week yet."

Nathan laughed, then looked at Ray-Ray and shrugged. "That works." Rachel glared at him with a disgusted look on her face, and I suddenly had a feeling that she knew something that I didn't know.

We continued with breakfast, and a few minutes later I caught only a part of the conversation that was going on at the end of the table. All I had heard was Nathan mention something about going to a strip club, followed by Rachel's perturbed response, "Ray-Ray, you're an idiot!"

He simply brushed her off with his smile and a witty comment, and as she sunk down in her chair looking more than slightly irritated, Ray-Ray piped up, "So who's in for a little pre-concert festivities?"

7 Year Coma fans were known for smoking pot at their concerts, or at the very least, arriving at the venue relatively stoned. Some have even argued that their music was enjoyed on a whole new level when one was high. This was also a long-standing tradition among most of my friends, who often snuck away shortly before the concert for a smoke.