Only Once

Chapter Thirty-One: The Party Crashers

Chapter Thirty-One: The Party Crashers

Spencer watched as an expression of disbelief came on Erika’s face, and she began to shake her head robotically. Her glossy hair swayed side to side and her plump lips formed an ‘o’ shape as she endeavoured to form her next words. It would’ve been amusing to watch had her next answer not mattered so much.

“No,” she finally stated and slightly stuck her head forward in a stubborn manner. “No, no. No, you can’t just…no.”

Jesse grinned and nodded animatedly. He took no time to start to slap her on the back and earned himself a good shove.

“We can and we will, baby!” he told her excitedly; his bright red cheeks were a blunt indication of the exhilaration he was feeling. “Now, seriously, where are we supposed to go? Tell us and help us get in!”

In pure disbelief, she wasn’t used to having people not listening to her, Erika’s eyes traced over all their faces and she wet her lips; they felt dry and she could tell that the lip gloss she’d applied ever so generously had come off.

“Come on, Erika,” Spencer pleaded and attempted to peek at her through his thick, dark eyelashes. Katie had once told him that he looked cute when he did that and he wondered if it would work on Erika. “We didn’t come all this way for nothing!”

That sentence held the truth to no extent. It hadn’t been easy for them to try to get Julian to let them borrow the van, find out where the hotel was, drive all the way there, and, to add on, practice and choose their song. The last one had been an especially difficult task as none of them could agree on anything. Luckily, though, they ended choosing a Beastie Boys track that they all agreed on at the last minute. All in all, their being there had actually taken quite a bit of work and none of the boys were willing to take no for an answer.

“No, but guys, I’m saying this for your own good.” Erika explained and seemed unfazed by Spencer’s puppy face. “I mean, you guys haven’t seen the crowd. They’re crazy….they’ll boo you off the stage if you don’t play techno or dubstep.”

“That’s perfectly fine!” Russell exclaimed. “We won’t mind.”

“Yeah,” Clay agreed. “We’re just doing this for the publicity.”

When Erika still looked reluctant, Spencer grabbed her with his free hand and pulled her close.

“Its okay, Erika,” He told her with a grin. “Don’t worry if we get booed off the stage.”

“No, I’m not worried about you.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m obviously worrying about myself. I mean, what if people realize that I’m the one who let you suckers on the stage and associate me with you guys?”

“Harsh.” Spencer said with laugh and, knowing that she was joking, teasingly leaned his face down toward hers before flicking her on the nose.

At that, Erika proceeded to turn to face him and wrapped her arms around his neck. But before she could say, or do, anything, Clay cleared his throat and interrupted them. Immediately, they pulled away but none of them appeared to be the slightest bit embarrassed.

Nonetheless, doing so earned them looks of disbelief from both Jesse and Russell, who had never actually seen the two of them together, and they could only wonder at how their typically monotonous friend was acting so lively and even laughing. They exchanged looks as Spencer proceeded to grin again and wrap his free arm around Erika to pull her close.

“Anyway, it can be like one of those stories that we can say on some talk show when we’re famous,” Jesse added and geared everyone’s focus back to where it was before. “It’ll be funny; our futures fans would love it!”