Red Lips & Brown Eyes // Jack Barakat

Red Lips & Brown Eyes ~ Chapter Nine: I Think That I Should Go

Chapter Nine: I Think That I Should Go 

Day 9, Santa Fe, New Mexico 

Song: The Best Thing (That Never Happened) by We Are The In Crowd

Melissa~ 

My fingers wrapped around the neck of my Les Paul. I picked the guitar off the ground and placed the strap over my shoulder. Aleesia was sitting on the couch, her phone held tightly in both hands while Anna quietly hummed the song we were going to cover for the ending of our set time. Today, we chose The Runaways' song, Cherry Bomb. It's a pretty amazing song, and of course, I'll be singing the vocals for Cheri's part. 

The door suddenly swung open, Joe walked into our green room. "Jimmy's busy dealing with the lighting, but he wanted me to tell you guys that your set starts in ten minutes." He informed. We nodded and followed him out of the green room. As soon as we entered the backstage area, I felt the spark of jealousy reignite once again. 

Jack was standing a couple of dozen feet away from me. He was standing in front of Jacky and Pete, Elisa clung to his side like some sort of lost puppy.  

Suddenly disgusted, I turned my back away from them and tried putting my focus on getting pumped for the show. Don't get me wrong, I'm always pumped to play a set, but I think it's obvious to anyone that I'm not my usual self. It's all that idiot's fault. I guess, I just care a little too much about him. He is one of my most reliable friends. I don't really know why I rely on Jack so much, but I think it probably has something to do with the fact that he's seen me cry much more than I would have liked. I know it isn't true, but in these past few days, I've found myself relying on Jack for many things. I don't like that I am, but it just happened and there's really nothing I can do about it. I just don't understand why my heart aches when I see Jack touching Elisa. It's none of my business who he hooks up with anyways. 

"Oh god," I sucked in a breath of air, attempting to relax my nerves. My eyes closed and I arched my neck, thoughts of nothing but the five thousand kids screaming inside one large arena began to fill my mind. We haven't released an album in almost two years, I say it's about time we get recording... I guess I'll talk to Aleesia and Anna after the show about when we should start writing for our next album. I'm always writing down random lyrics on to a piece of paper or a notepad, but I've always made sure to run them through with Anna and Aleesia first. Instead of Aleesia being the only one who writes the lyrics for songs, Anna and I both contribute in writing. The three of us usually just sit down in one room alone and begin writing, it's been our method for years now. 

Suddenly, I felt the cool touch of familiar fingers press against my arm. I turned around, taking a small step back once I saw who it was. Of course, it had to be none other than the man who was causing me more confusion, happiness and jealousy than anyone else: Jack Barakat. 

"Hey, Melissa," he greeted, Elisa stood closely by him. I forced a smile, waving before I walked past them. Honestly, I felt a bit guilty of just walking away from Jack without saying a word, but I don't know why, it hurt seeing him with another girl. Maybe, I'm jealous because I'm used to Jack just hanging out with me. Sounds a bit selfish, I know, but that's probably what's going on with me. 

"Melissa," Jack grabbed me by the arm and spun me around. I glanced up, my eyes locking with his for a split second before I quickly looked away. My cheeks were as red as can be and I felt like doing nothing more than running away from this- from him, but I knew I couldn't do that. I had a show to play and I was not going to let anyone ruin that for me. I needed to get away from Jack and focus on my performance. "What's wrong?" He asked, still gripping on my arm. 

I pulled away from Jack, forcing a blank look on my face. "Nothing," I muttered. "I'm just trying to get ready for the show. There's nothing wrong, Jack." I lied. There's nothing wrong with him, but there definitely is something wrong with me.