Backstage Smiles

Chapter 5 -- Michael

Five — Michael

"Dude, are you sure about this?"

"Ashton, I've never been more sure about anything in my life," I replied as I finished tying my Vans. "Except for maybe the band."

"She has a kid!" Calum called from the couch. "A little, tiny kid! Who, because of you, put makeup on my face two weeks ago." He took his eyes off the TV long enough to shoot me a glare. "Do you how long I had to scrub my face before it came off?"

"Brooke said it should've come right off with soap."

Calum was silent for a moment. "Oh."

I raised an eyebrow. "You did use soap, right?"

"Dude, that's gross!" Luke said. "So you're the reason the tour bus always smells?" He was wearing the same clothes for the past three days and had cheese dust past his elbow from the crisps he was eating, though, so who was he to judge?

Cal just shrugged and continued playing.

"Michael, what we're trying to say is," Ashton said, "you have to really think how bad you want to date this girl. I mean, you're not just dating her, you're dating Sara too. If Brooke is just another fling, you break more than her heart in the process. See what I mean?" To be fair, it was something I hadn't thought of before.

"Besides," Luke said, "you don't even know who Sara's father is. What if he's some beefy ex-boyfriend who's gonna beat you up for seeing Brooke?"

I was quiet. They all turned to look at me. Even Calum paused the game.

"She has told you about Sara's father, right?" Ashton asked. "It's been four dates already. That's not exactly something you should keep secret."

"From what she's told me, it's an intense story," I finally said. "But I'm pretty sure there's more to it than 'I was 15 and stupid and the condom broke.'"

While they mulled it over, I finished getting my keys and wallet. Brooke had planned today's date. It was going to be my first time seeing her apartment. I didn't want to be late.

"Kim's going to hate you," Luke finally said. "What? She's our publicist! It's her job to know this shit so she can cover for us."

"Ha!" Ashton laughed. "Can you imagine her reaction?" He pulled his famous derp face, which made the other guys bust a gut laughing.

"Laugh all you want, but I like Brooke. It's not just a fling with her."

"We can tell," Luke said with a laugh. "You're only on the fourth date and you're already playing video games less than Calum."

"Ha, ha," I said dryly, already halfway out the door. "I'll see you losers later."

I glanced down at my phone and saw that I had a message from Brooke. I couldn't help the smile that tugged on the corners of my mouth.

Brooke: Sara's really excited to see you today... She used her markers to make Barbie's hair purple.

Michael: Oh no did she get to ken too?

LOL no, but she did try to color her own bangs pink!

Ah shes learnning already. You gotta start em young :P

I'm just glad she's staying away from the walls. The markers say "washable" but idk if I can trust them

Good call. Hey im on my way now see you soon :)

It was a pretty short drive to Brooke's house, but getting stopped by every traffic light made it take twice as long to get there. At one light I check the clock on my phone and was pleased to see that I was still running about five minutes early. Brooke would be proud. She liked to say that she's training me to be a real adult who gets places at least ten minutes early to everything.