Love Is a Bunch of Stupid Decisions

Chapter 5

A/N: Happy August my loves. Go get a sunflower bouquet and take a nap or something. basically just enjoy summer before school starts AM I RIGHT

"Yeah! We've got like, a week and a half in Sacramento. You have to come see the show, Ang!" I tuck my phone between my shoulder and ear, jiggling my key in our apartment door. Even though it'd be months until we were actually in Sacramento, I knew that I had to give a heads up to my best friend of all time, Angie, who had moved out there just a few weeks ago.

"Charlotte, this is gonna be so hype! I can't wait to see you again. I just wish you'd be here sooner than next May."

"It's gonna fly by, Ang. It will be here before you even know it. I've gotta go, I have to change and then head to dinner with some coworkers. I'll talk to you later, though?"

"Wouldn't miss it!" The two of us hang up, and I slip my shoes off by the door. I automatically head to the living room to find Ben on the couch, the same place that I had left him several hours ago.

"Hey you, how you feeling?" I ask. He hadn't been feeling well earlier- between his endless rehearsals, press events, and possibly just getting sick, I had somehow convinced him to just stay in for the day and get some rest. He shrugs, clearly not feeling much better. "You poor thing," I say, kissing his forehead. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Stay here with me instead of going out to dinner," He says, smiling despite how he felt.

I giggle at how cheesy he is as he fits his hand into mine. "I promise that I'll be back before you know it. I'm pretty much in charge of this little meeting, or else I'd stay here."

"That's my girl," He says, smiling a tired and drowsy smile. "The youngest one who works there, and she's in charge. Damn, I'm lucky."

"Trust me, babe, I'm the lucky one," I laugh, kissing him one more time on the forehead before standing up to go change. When I walk back out to the living room, he's sound asleep on the couch again, a light snore leaving his lips. I laugh at how adorable he looks before quietly closing the door behind me.

Ben's still asleep on the couch when I get back, so it's not until the next morning that I get to talk to him again. I'm in our room starting to pack up for the tour when he tiredly walked in, rubbing his eyes. "Hey sleepyhead," I say, walking over to give him a kiss.

"How'd your thing go last night?" He says, plopping down on the bed next to my suitcase.

"It went so much better than I ever could have asked for! Remember that guy, Mark, that would always give me really stupid jobs to do because he didn't like me?" Ben nodded after thinking about it for a second. "Well guess what? Now I'm his boss!" I say, putting my hands on my hips proudly.

"That's my GIRL!" Ben shouts, loud enough for our easily-irritated neighbors to hear. I laugh, moving the suitcase so that I can lay down next to him.

"I missed you last night," I say, letting my hand find his.

"What do you mean?"

"When I came home from dinner last night and you were asleep, I was kind of sad. I like getting to talk to you every night." My voice gets quieter, embarrassed at what I was saying. I probably sounded like such a needy girlfriend, and I was never one to rely on other people like this.

He opens his arms up, and I gratefully wrap myself up in them. "You're adorable, Char. Too fricking adorable."

"I know," I laugh. He pinches my sides, causing me to let out a yelp and almost jump straight out of his arms. One of his favorite (and my least favorite) things to do was to tickle me.

"How about we make up for lost time, then? Coffee date?" He asks.

"Absolutely. But then, we both really need to pack. Can you believe we leave tomorrow?"

"Ah, packing is easy. But you're right, in 24 hours we're going to be on a bus headed to Phili." The two of us keep talking about tour as we head out for coffee, the same little shop as always. It was sad to think that we wouldn't be back here for a while, especially since we came here at least twice a week.

Before I knew it, the moment was here.

"Do you have everything?"

I nodded, throwing my bag on my shoulder. Ben took a deep breath, flipping off the last light switch. This was the last time we'd be in our apartment for quite a while, and it left both of us feeling a strange mix of nostalgia and excitement.

We took an Uber to the theater, meeting up with everyone there before loading onto the bus. The excitement was heavy in the air. It reminded me of the time my fourth-grade class took a field trip to the local nature center, but a lot cooler. The cast, filled with excitement, cheers for every little announcement that is made (everything from 'Opening night is tomorrow!' to 'We'll make a bathroom stop in an hour and a half'). I wanted to live in this optimism and enthusiasm forever.

The bus ride passes quickly with the cast constantly playing different games, like telephone, to keep us busy. Before we knew it we were unloading our stuff in Philadelphia, to find that a small group of Mean Girls fans had gathered in front of the hotel that they were dropping us off at. I take some pictures of the cast talking to fans for Mean Girls' social media, and post some on my own as well. Other than that, I mostly stay in the background, since they're not here to see me.

"Hey Char! Come here!" I hear Ben shout. He's talking to a group of girls who look like they could pass out with excitement at any moment. Assuming I'm needed to take a picture of him with them, I make my way over to them.

"Could we get a picture with you guys?" One asks, bouncing up and down.

"With us?" I ask, confused as to why they'd want me in it.

"Of course! We love you!" She continues. I look at Ben, still confused, but he just smiles back at me. The group poses for a picture with us, and I sign a few things for them before we are all ushered into the hotel.

"What was that about?" I laugh.

"It looks like you've officially reached star status, Charlotte," Josh says, joining Ben and me.

I laugh again. "God knows what for. You guys are the pretty, talented ones," I say, shoving Josh's shoulder.

"We are pretty, aren't we?" He says, before running off to talk to Sky.

I feel Ben's arm wrap around my waist, and I look at him to see him smiling proudly at me. "Get ready for a lot more of what just happened out there," He says.

"What, people wanting to see me? What do you mean?"

"Char, people love you. You're like the really cool band groupie that everyone wants to be. Except for not at all... but you get my point."

"I don't think I'll ever understand why, but I guess that's kinda cool," I laugh, suddenly feeling nervous for no good reason.

The cast spends the rest of the day in a rehearsal, getting used to performing on this stage. I mostly sit in the audience with my laptop, working on the million little things I had to get done before the show opened tomorrow night. I pull out my phone, seeing that I was tagged in a photo on Instagram. Pulling it up I see Ben and I, with the group of girls we had met earlier around us. I still couldn't believe that they had wanted to meet me. I could barely sing, dance or act, but somehow, they thought I was pretty cool. What Ben had told me replays over and over in my head: "Get ready for a lot more of what just happened." Was I ready for that?