Adolescent

14.

Let's just say that the backstage of a grunge-rock joint in the middle of Manhattan called Mangled Guitar is not the most glamorous place in the world. Or at least that's what I found out when walking into it with Aaron on Friday night for the big "Underground Rock and Metal Bands" event at which Sam, Hayden, Cade and I were invited to perform at with our formed-then-disbanded-then-formed-and-disbanded-again band, Royalty of Roxanna. We'd been invited back in September, before I was offered to tour with One Direction. And we weren't anything if not good about keeping the dates we'd set up. Besides, the guy who booked us could possibly get us signed in the future anyway. So there was that.

"I thought Sam, Hayden and Cade were supposed to be here." Aaron leaned down and whispered in my ear.

"They are. They're just at our assigned pre-show area or whatever," I spotted the guys and pointed them out to Aaron. "See?"

We walked over to the couch where the guys were lounging and I plopped down into a wide space between Sam and Hayden and patted the space beside me for Aaron to sit in. He sat, and hugged one of his arms around my shoulders.

"And Royalty of Roxanna is now complete!" Cade cheered. He was super excited about the show, and was definitely the most vocal about it. The rest of us were pretty mellow, and I was used to pre-show jitters. This was the guys' biggest show, not mine. But that wasn't saying that I wasn't extremely excited. I just knew how to conceal it.

I looked around. In doing this, I realized I was pretty much the only girl in the room and - of course - the youngest. I didn't look like the youngest, what with my body shape and the fishnet stockings I had on under a pair of shorts and tight-fitting Sleeping With Sirens tee layered over a white, long-sleeved cheer crop top and my biker boots. I was used to being the youngest person in the room. But, there was also the fact that I was probably the most "famous" too. I'd taken pictures and signed autographs walking through the door into this place and even walking from my hotel to Mangled Guitar. And, from looking at the roster of bands playing tonight, I hadn't heard of any of the bands besides my own - hell, probably no one else had heard of Royalty of Roxanna either. That made me a little nervous.

"Hey, who's opening tonight?" I asked Sam. He held the roster flyer in his hand.

"Some band called Toxic Wastelanders. From what I've heard of their rehearsal, they're pretty good. Their lead singer is a little lacking, on the other hand," Sam responded, looking at the roster intensely. He still had a scar on his lip from the stitches that were there. It looked as if he'd had a lip ring and someone had ripped it out.

Suddenly, Aaron got up. "I'm gonna go grab a drink. You want anything?"

"Water, please." I said. The only thing else to drink would most likely be soda or alcohol, and I drank neither.

Aaron nodded and sped off to the front of the building, weaving his way through the large crowd of musicians. I watched him go, then leaned back onto the couch, eyes closed and head resting on the back when I couldn't see him anymore.

"I don't know if I like the way he looks at you." Sam muttered.

"Why?" I asked, not bothering to lift my head or open my eyes. Sam liked no boy even moderately interested in me.

"I don't know, it's kind of... intense, I guess. Too intense." he said decisively.

"He's a good guy, Sam. We have a lot in common. I like him. He's done nothing to hurt me," I said, meaning the words. "The most we've ever fought is over what movie to see when either of us have time for a date."

"He makes you happy?" Sam asked. I could feel him searching my face.

"As close to happy as I can get, Sam."