Diary of a Rockstar

Chapter 6

Chapter 6; Gambling Away a Friend::

As she stepped into the small venue where the artists convention was being held, Jade felt her nerves catch up with her and she stared at the floor.

"You okay?" Mike asked.  She glanced up at him quickly. 

"What? Oh, yeah."  She smiled down at the floor.

"Just nervous, I guess."  He nodded. 

"That's okay. Just remember what I told you last night."  She nodded.  His words from the night before rang through her head.  Everything about that moment lingered clearly in her mind's eye.  She'd finally calmed down enough to tell him exactly what was wrong.  That no one truly loved her.  No one cared.  She was always pushed to the side to make room for the people that seemed so much more important than she was.  And she'd lain her face on the carpet, lying on her side, with Mike sitting above her head.  He'd taken a deep breath and told her, with so much confidence that she was sure he truly meant it, that she meant something to him.  She wasn't any less important than anyone else on this earth and if someone else couldn't see that, then fuck them.  He let her know that nothing, NOTHING justified the fact that people acted like they didn't care.  And then she'd sat up and hugged him and told him thank you.  Thank for you caring.  Thank you for being there.  Thank you for taking her away long enough to show her that someone truly could care about her.  And she'd only been there for two days.  She couldn't imagine the ways he could break down her walls if she was there for another week.

She sat down in a chair next to Mike at a long table and set down the bottle of water he'd given her in the car.  Everyone was chatting in a lively manner.  Most of the people seemed like they were around her age.  A few of them looked a little younger, some a little older.  Mike looked like the oldest one there.  That must have meant he was the director of whatever this was meant to be.  A girl in a black button down top with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows sat down next to her and dropped her satchel bag onto the floor behind her.  She smiled up at Jade, throwing her long, black french braid back over her shoulder.  Jade strained a smile back at her and then looked up at Mike as he sat at the end of the long table.  The room seemed to quiet down immediately.  Mike grinned at all of them.

"Morning."  A few people gave him happy hellos, others merely grunted.  Mike shuffled through a bunch of papers. 

"My name is Mike. And I play in a band called Linkin Park."  Several people nodded at him.  He swallowed.

"So, let's introduce ourselves, I guess. Since there are only seven of us.  Tell us how old you are, where you're from, etc."  He glanced at a brunette girl sitting on the opposite side of the table from Jade. She cleared her throat quietly.

"Uhm," she started, "I'm Carrie.  I'm nineteen years old.  I drove up to Los Angeles from San Deigo."  Mike nodded.

"Nice to meet you Carrie," he smiled and then looked at the young man with black hair sitting next to Carrie.  He sat up straight.

"I'm Ryan. I'm twenty-two years old.  I came over here from Las Vegas."  Mike smiled and nodded.  And it went that way.  Carrie, 19, from San Diego.  Ryan, 22, from Las Vegas.  Jonah, 20, from Washington.  Greg, 23, from Los Angeles.  And then it came to rest on the girl next to Jade.  Jade had been studying her a bit.  She was quiet.  She didn't seem to pay attention when people talked.  That intrigued Jade.  The olive skinned girl put down the pen she was doodling with and cleared her throat.

"Err, my name is Clare.  I'm, uhm, twenty-three years old.  And I'm from San Diego."  Mike grinned at her. 

"Awesome to meet you, Clare."  Jade looked at him and wondered exactly how he could put on such a good façade and pretend to be "happy to meet" everyone.  Perhaps he truly was.  Mike coughed a bit.  Jade looked up.