P.J.: A Love Story

The Beginning

Sky Thomas is the hottest new thing in the music industry. Picture a mix between Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus, only not skanky, BUT when she's not on stage, she's a tomboy.

The first time Sky met Johnny Knoxville, they didn't actually meet.  They were at the same party.  She had a crush on him for as long as she could remember, but there was an age gap between them. She 22 and he 35....  She didn't give a single shit about it though; the man was delicious.  And of course,  a man as fine as he was, he would be taken. Married.  Even worse.  She tried to catch his eye by laughing loudly and flipping her hair, and any other desperate LOOK AT ME tactics.  She did get him to make eye contact with her once, but that was it.  Lame.

Then, she saw him at ANOTHER party. This time though, she heard he and his wife were having problems. This time, they made eye contact and smiled at each other, but that was the extent of it.  Why was this so hard, Sky thought. 

The next time they saw each other was at an MTV awards show.  They passed by each other and smiled and that was it.  And Sky won the best kiss for a romantic movie she was in that year so she had to kiss her annoying co-star.  That could be good or bad.  Johnny could see her kiss and maybe that would make him use his imagination, or he could see it and be like gross.  They passed each other again and he said congratulations, his smile bright at the sun.  She said thank you.  And that was it.

BUT his divorce was final by the time she played his birthday party.

Johnny first became aware of her when he heard her singing on the radio.  He fell in love with her voice, even if her music wasn't normally his style.  He had seen her in person for the first time at a mutual friend's party.  He and his wife were just about to separate and he went to the party solo.  He saw her across the room, talking to some people. She's so beautiful, he thought.  But she was young.  He wanted to talk to her, but he was nervous; he was usually shy in big groups of people.  And he had no idea what to say.

He finally worked up his courage to congratulate her on her best kiss award, which hurt to watch.  She had to kiss her co-star, probably the same age as her.  Johnny felt like a lecherous old man.  After congratulating her, he made sure he kept walking so as not to beam at her – the woman he had the biggest crush on that he could remember.

One great thing about being "famous," Sky discovered first hand, was that you don't have to show up early to set up for a gig. And you don't have to talk to anyone if you don't want.  And she usually didn't.

Sky and her assistant Mary were in the "green room" in the back of the club.  Dickhouse reserved this whole club/country bar just for Johnny's birthday. There were cowboy boots hanging over the bar and license plates on the walls.  Red Bull was sponsoring the night so all well drinks were free, just tip your bartender. Sky felt her hand shaking as she started sipping on her second red bull and vodka.

"You might want to slow down there," Mary said looking up from her phone. Mary was a tall blonde in her late 20's and a veteran of the music industry.  At first glance, everyone mistook her for a model, but she graduated with a degree in music business and had been working a long time.

"I'm just so nervous," Sky said.

"Girl, this is nothing.  You got this." 

"Its so much easier to play to people who are my fans than just industry people." Sky popped a few peanuts in her mouth and immediately regretted it.  Nausea.

"What time do I go on?"

"Nine," Mary said checking her watch.  It was 8:45pm. 

"When's he going to be here?"

"Midway through your set, I believe, so that everyone can yell surprise."

Sky stares into space and imagines what their first encounter will be like.  Then she hears Mary, "don't you want to go socialize with the other guys from Jackass?  Bam is here and Ryan and Steve-O and.. the other less hot ones."

This makes Sky laugh. "I'm too nervous.  I need to play first."

Just then, Jeff walks back stage.  "Hey, so he's running late, cause he's an asshole."

"Men," Mary says.  Sky laughs again.

"Should I wait or just go on now?"

"I guess just go on now, if that's okay?"  He shrugs a little and smiles.

"No problem."

"Thank you again for doing this! He's going to lose it!"

"Lose it? Why?"  It suddenly occurs to Sky this whole thing could be a joke.

"Ohhh, let's just say he's a big fan." Jeff winked and left to talk to the band to let them know what's going on.

"Okay, I have to stay calm.  I can not get all worked up now.  I can freak out after."

~~~~~~~~ hey just a little bit, I promise it will get better~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~