Strung (Rock & Romance I.)

Chapter 3. - Backstage

A/N: Surprise! This chapter is dedicated to jennyrs23 ! Thank you for enjoying the story so far and commenting! It always always makes my day to see what you all think! <3

Ps.: Arielle is Mrs - however, if you do not know if a lady is married or not or whose name she is using, 'Ms' is always a proper way to address them - and she can tell you how she prefers to be called. If you call someone 'Mrs' right away - and they're not - that can be insulting to them. Shoutout to my 12th grade English teacher for installing this knowledge in my head for life! ALSO YES, ARIELLE IS MARRIED! Was that a hint hint to the finale of Wrecked Up or....

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Hazmat stayed for another ten, fifteen minutes or so, before they said their goodbyes, and promised to stay in touch with Arielle personally. Their manager would be our main point of contact, but since there was only five weeks until the party, everyone felt it was best if they took more responsibility.

I, for one, kept my eyes on the ground as they all came over and shook my hand - Jesse, their drummer, even pulled me into a hug - and I was still staring in front of myself when they walked out.

I knew it was stupid to imagine they would remember me - at least, the rational part of me knew. But I supposed, when a meeting was so life changing for me, I would've hoped it would've been important to the other party too.

That night, when I was sixteen in the cafe, Lukas LaBelle spoke to me like I was a normal person. No boy at our high school did that...

And I hung onto that feeling of normalcy until it was time to graduate. I listened to their songs when things got hard around me - in my dramatic, depressed, teenage mind - and they made me smile.

I experienced my first kiss while their song played over the loudspeakers at the music hall the school rented for prom. Their CD was the first one I stuck into my car's player after I finally passed my driving test. I was watching interviews of the boys when my parents drove us out to Montana for summer vacations in the middle of nowhere, with no people around. Their third album dropped when I decided to quit college, and make my own journey.

Hazmat has been a huge part of my life, and I guess I was hoping I have altered theirs too. Even if it was just a little bit.

But all I did was spill coffee all over their insanely talented guitar player.

Only when I heard the front door slam shut did I swirl around to face Arielle. "You could've told me Haz-fucking-mat was coming!" I seethed from between my teeth, while Arielle giggled. "I would've dressed up!"

"I have never seen you dressed up!" She laughed. "Besides, you have this cute, artsy thing going. The guys totally dig it."

"Yeah, I'm basically their dream girl..." I said, shaking my head.

Arielle was still smiling as she linked her arm through mine, and started walking us out of the building. "You know, I didn't take you for a groupie kind of girl." Then, she added. "But I do know you were full of shit when you said you didn't know them!"

We laughed. "They're my favorite band, that's all."

Arielle nodded. "I'm sorry."

"For?" She was about the same height as me, but since she was wearing sky scrapers for shoes, I had to crane my neck back to look at her.

Shrugging, she squeezed my hand. "I didn't realize you liked them that much. I really should have told you before you came here - but it's always a weird line between keeping their identities a secret if you turn the event down, and giving you a fair heads up."