Not Just a Wallflower

Part 2

Poppy buried her face into her hands, inadequacy and fear trampling on her fragile self confidence. If only she could tare these part of herself away.

The day of December 15th came quickly. Poppy, Hannah, Sarah, and Poppy's mum were waiting at the concert location. Poppy nervously twisted her fingers as they waited for the boys. She was examining the amps and guitars when she heard the two other girls gasp, yelling behind her, "Oh my gosh!"

Poppy's breathing caught in her throat. She felt sick but gathering whatever remnants of courage she had left she turned to look at the four tall Australians. Poppy smiled waving at them while Hannah and Sarah's steady stream of chatter fell into a distant hum in her ears.

Clearing her throat Poppy began to introduce herself, "Hi. I'm Poppy. It's nice to meet you, this is my mum." She gestured to her mother who sat off to the side in a chair. "And this is Sarah and Hannah."

She trailed off after that, drawing a blank on anything further to say. Giving a nervous smile as the four boys chorused "Hi Poppy."

"Well" Ashton said, "I'm Ashton, this is Calum, Luke, and Michael being a weirdo in the corner."

They all laughed and after a few moments of general talk we all split into separate conversations. Poppy sat with Michael on the floor, she was dying to pick his brain about video games. She laughed seeing her mum talking to Luke.

Michael looked at her confused but followed her gaze to where her mum and Luke sat. "Gah, he's such a momma's boy, huh?" Michael gave a little laugh as Poppy nodded, "That's what they say."

"Hey so uhm video games?" she smiled, feeling a little braver "Play any zombies? I haven't gotten to play in a while" Michael looked at her, perking up a bit. "Yeah actually, what's your favorite map?"

"I love origins but Nuketown and Die rise are pretty great too... although I must say I hold my own pretty well in transit." She smiled wide as Michael looked a little excited. "Why haven't you played in a while?" Poppy blushed scratching the back of her head "Well I don't personally own an xbox 360 or PS3, my boyfriend moved out and took his. My nephew just got one but doesn't have gold or the game and my brother's PS3 broke." Michael nodded understanding. "Maybe if we have time tonight or if I'm ever around where you live we could play a few rounds?" Her smile widened to fit her whole face. "Dude! I'd love you for it!" Michael smiled and was about to say something when Hannah bulldozed her over. "Switch with me! You two have been talking the whole time!"

Poppy sighed and waved to Michael before turning to spot Ashton who was sitting behind his drum set. Poppy looked around seeing each band member twiddling with an instrument, she assumed they would be warming up soon. She walked up to where Ashton was sitting.

"Hey" She spoke, startling Ashton a bit. "Hey" he smiled as Poppy laughed. "Can I say something kind of random that may come off as weird?" Ashton paused "Uh, I guess." Poppy rolled her eyes, trying to gather some courage "I though I'd tell you that your smile is like liquid sunshine."

Before Ashton could reply Luke and Calum started playing and Poppy was pulled away by Hannah and Sarah to sit on the floor in front of the boys to watch. Poppy's mum sat in a chair in the corner, smiling.

Hannah sang a song or two with the boys while Sarah danced up front. Poppy made her way back to watch everything from behind the drum set. She smiled watching Michael, Cal, and Luke race around with such intense energy. The ending chord sent chills down Poppy's spin.

She loved the energy at concerts, how she could feel the pulse of the music in her whole body. It was one of the best feelings she ever felt. Poppy had closed her eyes, enjoying the vibes. Ashton jumped down from the drum set startling Poppy and causing her to stumble back tripping over some wires. She fell and hit the hard concrete "Ouch" she groaned rubbing her hip.

Hannah and Sarah were rolling on the ground with laughter while Ashton held out a hand to her, trying hard not to giggle.

Embarrassed was an understatement as she took Ashton's hand with one hand and covered her very red face with the other.

Luke and Calum were pulling the other two up while Michael walked over to her. He patted her back "Come on Poppy let's get you sat down. That was a pretty hard fall." Poppy smiled at Michael and walked with him to the front of the stage to sit.

They sat for a little while before one of the stage people came to gather the boys and we were shown to the merch tables.

The concert was long and 5 Seconds of Summer played last. During the last set a lot of people started leaving trying to beat traffic. Poppy's mum had surgery recently so she had already left half way through to go rest at the hotel down the road.

That left Hannah, Sarah, and Poppy cheering and singing along in the front row. Before long the place was empty, the girls had turned to go, stopping for the loud "Wait!" bellowed out behind them.

Poppy turned first seeing Michael and Calum racing towards them, slowing when Poppy turned around.