The Rockstar Within Me

The Rock Star Within Me - Chapter 15

Copyright 2012 

One of the many pluses of living as a teenage rock star (or at least a-wanna be), your mother can't really ground you. She can threaten to call your tour manager all she wants but ultimately she's powerless. Though I did have to be subjected to her ranting, and believe me there was a lot of that. I was forever thankful that she hadn't decided to come to L.A. and punish me herself. I wouldn't have put it past her. 

Eventually though I was able to convince my mom that I had an important interview to do, cutting our conversation short. I made a mental note to take time and write a long email to her and my siblings. I really did miss them. I felt like I had grow up completely in such a sort period of time that I was having withdrawals from having someone care for me. It was an odd feeling but sometimes I just wanted to be a kid again. 

Luckily, soon after that we arrived at the venue we were playing at. River, Mason, Drew, Jess and I all jumped into our SUV that was waiting for us and headed out to our hotel. 

"We're staying at the Hilton for the days we're in Los Angeles." Jeff informed us as he sat in the passenger seat in the front. 

"Some how fans have figured out which hotel we're at which means we have to become extra careful. So you guys are to always enter and leave the hotel premises through the back entrance. Never leave without a bodyguard and after checking it by me. The last thing we want is for you to be mobbed. Alright?"

"How many people are at the hotel now?" Mason asked curious from the back seat where he sat in the middle of Jess and Drew. 

Jeff scrolled through his phone looking for something. "A couple hundred at least apparently." 

The group was brought up short. Since we've been on the road constantly, we hadn't had any real publicity. If we had a radio interview, they would come to us. If we had meet and greets, they were small. This meant we hadn't really seen what our fans looked like. We had seen what River's fans looked liked but our stay in LA would give us some incite what the rest of our lives could turn out to be like. 

"Seriously?" I asked. "All to see us for five, ten seconds?" 

River barked out a hard laugh from beside. "Us? More like-" 

"Actually, the bands approval rating has gone up. There actually might be some people excited to see Alice too." 

I shrugged, secretly laughing the super villain crackle inside my head. Jeff had totally shut River down and I completely enjoyed it. River pushed me a bit, noticing my cheeky smile. I gave him a punch back in return. 

We were two blocks away from the hotel when we started to see the people. So many people turning to see our SUV convoy. I couldn't hear their screams but I shuttered imagining them. 

Though we were heading to the back entrance there were still tons of fans. We watched as police and security guards pushed people back. 

"They look like they're being so mean to the girls." Jess commented, speaking the words I was thinking. It was hard not cringe as the fans were roughly thrown around.

Jeff tried to explain but he didn't sound happy about the situation either. "Some people can act crazy when they're faced with their idols. We're just being safe."

Idol? We were far from that...

"Put sunglasses on if you have them." River encouraged, sounding sincere. "It helps with the camera flashes." 

I nodded, grabbing a pair of raybands from my bag. I looked up to see the others have their own shades on. Silently I commented on how much we looked like we were famous...which technically we were...but we didn't feel like it so it's an odd feeling. 

"Alright here we go, stay behind a security guard." Jeff called as the car pulled to a stop. "River, Alice, act like a couple." He ordered. 

River's door was pulled open from a waiting security guard and instantly I needed to cover my ears. 

So many people were shouting our names; I couldn't distinguish them between Jeff and from the people around us. It was hard not to be terrified of the huge crowd and I hadn't even gotten out of the vehicle yet. 

River got out first, surveying the scene for a moment before turning around to grab my hand and help me out.

The atmosphere as I hopped out the vehicle felt like I was being swallowed up by a wave at the ocean. Suddenly, I was claustrophobic from the people grabbing at us. My feet wouldn't move forward and in fact I took a step backwards out of fear. 

River must have sensed my distress because he pulled me into him, so close that i could smell his Armani cologne. He was careful to shield me from a majority of the onslaught of cameras and shouting. 

It felt natural to be tucked into his side with his arm around me. I felt safe and at ease. I tried to tell myself that it was because my nerves were so shot that I would have clung to anyone....

River leaned over to whisper in my ear making a shiver run down my spine. 

"You ready for this to be your life from now on?" 

I shrugged, having only started to realize that there was truth behind his words. 

He pulled me forward then, towards the doors to the hotel with Jess, Drew and Mason following behind.

Through the massive chaos, my attention was caught by a small voice. I looked over River's shoulder to notice a little girl about ten years old. She was being trampled by a security guard in front of her and the other fans behind her. 

Immediately I stopped. River having not seen what I had, tried to keep going probably thinking I had become scared again. I slipped out of his grasped and jogged over to the little girl and the security guard.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" I shouted. "She's little! Stop hurting her."

The man seemed to ignore me, knowing who I was but still not taking me seriously. 

"Hey man. Listen to her." 

River called in an aggressive voice as he came to stand beside me. 

As I looked up at him, I noticed how his chest was puffed up slightly, as he tried to look as intimidating as possible. He glanced down at me for a brief second, gave a small smile, and picked up my hand in support. 

To say I was touched was an understatement. 

The security guard seemed to take a hint then and eased up. 

Other fans hurled their memorabilia into my face but my attention was still on the girl. I bent down to the girl's level and almost laughed out loud at her facial expression. She seemed to be in complete awe at what had just unfolded in front of her. Her eyes were the size of records as I took the black marker and a cd out of her hand and preceded to hand it to River. He signed it generously even putting a cute message on it before handing it back to the girl. 

The girl's hands shook as she looked down at what was in them. I smiled at her as I stood up, River hooking my arm with his, trying once again to pull me away. 

As we started to turn away, I heard the girl call out.

"Wait!"

She stood on her tippy toes in order to reach me as she handed the cd back to me. 

It was in my hands before I knew what to do. I eyed her suspiciously as River and I looked at the girl. 

"Can you sign my cd too please?!" She squealed, completely forgetting that her idol had already put his autograph on it. 

"Me?" I asked, eyebrows furrowed. 

The girl jumped up and down, nodding with excitement.

I shook my head, confused as I scribbled my autograph beside River's.

The cd was snatched out of my hands as River tossed it back to the girl. Dozens of other articles and markers were thrust into my face for me to sign but River quickly apologized. 

"Sorry guys," he shouted. "We'll catch ya next time." 

River's arm snaked around my hip securely as he pulled me once more back towards the door. I gave a small wave to the little girl and then let myself be towed along. 

Through the crowd I could see Jess had also stopped to give autographs and Mason and Drew were even taking a couple pictures though they looked to be overwhelmed a bit. As River and I made our way into the hotel, Jeff pulled the others away from the fans. 

Mason was jumping when he walked into the elevator that we had held for them. 

I leaned up against the elevator wall as we climbed higher to our hotel rooms. River and I made sure to stand a distance away from each other even though I suddenly seemed to have an attraction to his hold. 

It was an interesting new turn of events. 

"That was insane!" He yelled, on a natural high.

"I know right?!" Jess shrieked, amazed at what had just happened. 

"I felt so bad for the fans." I admitted honestly, seeing the faces of desperate girls in my mind. "I was both afraid of them and scared for them." 

Jeff's eyebrows shot up. "What you did back there is awesome publicity. Couldn't have made that anymore smoother then it was." He spoke in admiration. 

"I didn't do it for publicity. That girl was being hurt. I couldn't have lived with that on my concious." I spat back at him, horrified he'd think I would pull a trick just to make me look good. 

Jeff just shrugged, not really caring. 

The elevator made a ping noise as it opened and we were face with the plastic looking woman that was River's agent. 

She tapped her foot in annoyance. 

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I love all the guys in my book. Which one do you like? Also I love this chapter for some reason. It's not much but I couldn't stop writting it! Ps. I love you.