Gotta Be You

Chapter 13: Next Stop Pittsburgh

Jess:After finding out about going to Cara’s I was almost overly excited. After spending a day in Philadelphia we caught our flight to Pittsburgh. The show was scheduled to start at 7:00 so we got there at 5:00 for soundcheck and styling. Since I wasn’t in desperate need of makeup (mainly due to the fact no one knew I was even there) I decided to go exploring. “Are you sure you’ll be okay walking around on your own?” Zayn asked as I grabbed the keys to the car.

“Zayn its only for an hour. I’ll be fine. I have the GPS and I its not like I’m going to be checking out the dark, shady men filled alleys of Pittsburgh,” I said. He smiled a little at my joke although I could tell he wasn’t helped by the joke. “I’ll be fine,” I said as I left the dressing room. I walked out to the parking lot and jumped in the car. It didn’t take me long to find a good spot to eat. I pulled into the McDonalds parking lot and got out. When I walked up to the counter and ordered I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Excuse me miss but you wouldn’t happen to be Jessica Taylors would you?” a man said. He looked to be about my age and his face seemed pretty familiar to me.

“Um, yeah. Do I know you?” I asked, trying to place the face.

“I’m Keith Walker. Um we were in fifth grade together,” the man said. That’s where I knew him. He was the only boy I had ever had a crush on before Zayn. He went out with Bridgette Richards, the class chatter box. Now she was a reporter for

HotSpot

and was really well known for it.

“Keith! That’s where I know you from. Wow, I haven’t seen you in forever,” I said, trying to sound excited.

“Yeah. Same here. How is, uh,” he paused hoping I would fill in the blank on my new home.

“Bradford. Great. Uh, how bout you. Where did you end up?” I asked

“I live here in Pittsburgh. I’m studying to be a Lawyer,” he said.Suddenly I knew where this was going. He was trying to hit on me

       "Sweet!" I said in mock excitement.

       "How about you? What are you thinking of doing?" Keith asked. I tried to think of how to respond for a second. I decided of just saying the basics.

      "I'm thinking of going into music production," I said. Keith took a second to take that in.  

      "Sweet. I suppose I'm not surprised. You have always been really into your music,” Keith said.

“Yeah,” I said for lack of something better to say. Keith nodded.

“So is there anyone special?” Keith asked finally, his voice teasing.

“Yeah I have a boyfriend who is traveling with me,” I said looking down at my shoes. Keith’s face went blank.

“Oh, um, I see,” Keith said, looking down at the floor.

“Yeah. He’s great. His name is-” I stopped myself. I was certain Keith had no idea about Zayn and the guys (or if he did he only knew the basics) and where Zayn lived, but what if someone was listening into our conversation. There was a 12 year old looking girl sitting not ten feet from where I stood. So instead of finishing the sentence I pulled out my phone and pretended to answer. Just as I thought, Keith walked away. I grabbed my order and pulled my phone from my ear. I ate my meal in silence before my phone really rang. A picture of Zayn’s face popped up on my screen. I answered, “Allo?”

“Hey Jess. How’s Pittsburgh?” Zayn asked, obviously relieved I had answered.

“Other than seeing a guy I used to have a crush on in sixth grade, I haven’t seen much,” I said.