tongue tied // jack johnson

first

Paige

“It’s a perfect day to stay in bed and cry for three hours over boys.”

Caitlin sighed with a pout. “Come on, Paige. It’s going to be fun.” She promised, batting her eyelashes at me. “Plus, there will boys there.” She reasoned.

I shook my head stubbornly. “Yeah, but not my kind of boys.”

“They’re not my kind of boys, either.” Caitlin shrugged. “But, honestly, I did my research and they are hot as hell.”

I scrunched up my nose. “I still don’t want to.”

Caitlin exhaled and started to walk around the hotel room, grabbing her things and stuffing them into her shoulder bag as she talked to me. “Come on,” She groaned and stomped her foot on the floor. “It’s going to be really quick, plus, I paid for your ticket, so why not?”

“Because I want to stay in bed and do stuff.”

“Like what?” Caitlin raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow at me. “Answer BuzzFeed quizzes?”

“Shut up.” I mumbled.

“Exactly.” She walked over to me and extended her hand for me to reach. “Now you’re coming with me and we’re going to have a good time and maybe, if you behave, I’ll pay for dinner.”

“If I behave?” I shook my arm off her hold and looked at her.

“Yes.” She smiled. “I know that you’re going to throw a fit in there because of all the girls you’re going to be stuck with, but, please, don’t embarrass me.”

I rolled my eyes at the thought of it. “Fine.”

“Good.” Caitlin clapped her hands in contentment.

+++

“Alright, so who are these people, exactly?” I chewed on my bottom lip as we entered the concert venue before anyone else. We sat at the second floor of the area, where seats were available and a barricade separated us from the rest of the audience. Having press passes had its beautiful perks.

“Jack Gilinsky and Jack Johnson.” Caitlin read from her phone with squinted eyes. “They’re more known as Jack and Jack on Vine and Twitter.”

“Jack and Jack?” I repeated. “How creative.”

“Be nice.” Caitlin elbowed my waist but a smile played on her lips. “They have some opening acts, also, though.”

I sighed, not really interested in the topic. I leaned over the barrier and looked at the crowd of fans starting to form below us. “When does the show even start?”

“In an hour.”

I turned around to face her with wide eyes. “I’m not waiting for an hour here. I don’t even listen to them.”

Caitlin shrugged and took a seat. “Then go to the bathroom, or something. Just be here in time so we can make a sincere, proper, review of them.”

“Like we don’t make sincere, proper reviews.” I scoffed and straightened out my plain black shirt, ready to leave the venue.

“There’s still that review we made for that dude.” Caitlin pointed out. “We only watched his first song and then left right away.”

“That’s because he sucked.” I simply said and left, not bothering to say goodbye.

Saying I left the concert venue with difficulty would be an understatement.

Leaving a concert venue full of teenaged girls whose hormones were shooting through the ceiling was like trying to go up an escalator that goes down.

Everyone was pushing each other in every direction, girls were screaming even if the show hasn’t started yet, and I was poked in the eye thrice by various signs that said some rather disturbing comments related to sexual intercourse.

Despite the show not starting any soon, the lights were already off, there was an upbeat song that I’ve never heard in my life playing, and it was getting cramped by the second.

The moment I stepped out of the venue, my eyes squinted at the sudden light. I exhaled slowly, happy to escape the cramped venue. I normally loved going to concerts, and didn’t mind the crowded venues, but it’s not as enjoyable when you’re not a fan of the artist performing.

I decided on checking out what kind of merchandise they had, but something green caught my eye: Starbucks.

I have been craving for iced tea since that morning, and, in all honesty, Starbucks had the best iced tea I’ve ever tasted. Most people came for coffee and Frappes, I came for the iced tea.

Right when I opened the door of the coffee shop, I guess God thought that my day was going way too good so he had to make something happen to even it out.

I had no idea how it happened, but the moment the door opened, some dude walking backwards, who I expected to stop when the door opened, decided to turn around. I saw it coming, so I dodged, but he did as well, leading to my head crashing into his chest, and his steaming hot coffee spilling on both our shirts.

What a time to be alive.

“Fucking hell, man.” I hissed, shaking the coffee off my hands.

“Holy shit, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to, I swear.” He said quickly. I looked up and saw a blonde teenage boy with sunglasses and a damp gray hoodie biting on his nails.

I took a step back and looked down at the mess on the wooden floor. “Jesus Christ, that coffee is hot.”

The guy snickered. “Yes, well, it is coffee.”

I shot my head up to glare at him. “There’s such thing as iced coffee, maybe you should try it sometime. Personally, I prefer cold beverages getting spilled on me than hot ones.”

He smiled weakly and took off his sunglasses before looking around him to see how much mess he has made. Not one single staff member has offered us help. “Oh, fuck.”

“Yeah,” I nodded.

He looked back at me and glanced at my soaked shirt. “Do you want a new shirt?”

I shook my head and looked at my outfit as well. I mentally thanked God that my entire outfit was plain black, making the coffee barely noticeable. The only thing that actually made it evident was the fact that it made my clothes cling onto my body. “No, I’m good.”

“Are you sure?” He took a step forward, stepping into a puddle of coffee.

“Yes.” I said firmly.

He clapped his hands and nodded. “Well, I really am sorry.”

“Are you?”

He frowned, taken aback. “Yeah,” he stammered. “Um, I really am sorry, and I would love to make it up to you. I’d get you coffee, but I have to be somewhere in, like, five minutes, so can I take you out for lunch tomorrow or something?”

I snorted. “Are you serious?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I just want to make it up to you. No one deserves coffee spilling on their shirt.”

“So, you think that taking me out would be a good enough apology?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yes,” he said slowly. “So, lunch tomorrow?”

“Yes,” I rolled my eyes and exaggerated my answer, spitting out sarcasm. “Because I've been going to Starbucks every day, waiting for someone to accidentally spill their coffee on me, and maybe ask me out in apology. Try again, big boy.”