On the Road

2: The Dinner (Michael)

We had gone to Hot Topic on a whim. We were touring the city when all of a sudden Calum had an intense need for tshirts. He was so weird sometimes. That's when I met her. She was so cute standing the looking at a lime green dress. Her pink hair was tied up in a ponytail and I so badly had the urge to see if it smelled like bubble gum. She was just so damn pretty but I unfortunately wasn't the only person to notice. Luke made his move first. Her reaction to the Luke Hemmings telling her she'd look good in a dress was not what I expected. I knew I'd have very little chance but if I played my cards just right I could win this. I was cautious and careful with everything I did and said. To my surprise Luke seemed to back off and I scored my date. But later that evening while I was texting her Luke came and sat next to me. "Look man I can see you like her and I respect that buy you fuck this up and I will not stop myself from going after her. Fair warning." I just stared at him. Shit. Girls found Luke irrisistable and that was terrifying. I spent the next few days texting her every chance I got until finally Saturday rolled around. It was 15 minutes before 5 and I was no where near ready. "Ashton come on man please!" I begged my band mate to help me pick an outfit. "Why don't you start with pants mate." He tossed me a pair of fairly new black skinny jeans. I slid them on and pulled on my shoes. "Okay now a shirt. No band tees you gotta be a little classy. And no singlets. Here let's do this." Ashton tossed me a plain grey v-neck and a leather jacket. Simple but like he said classy. I threw it on and ran to brush my teeth. My phone vibrated and I picked it up.

Sherri: I'm here.

"Shit!" I grabbed my wallet and shoved it into my pocket along with my phone. Walked out the hotel door and there she stood leaning against the elevator...talking to Luke. "Told you you'd look good in that dress." Luke told and I saw her blush. "Thanks." She looked up and saw me standing there. Her smile widened and her face brightened. I could feel my stomach start to knot. Luke turned and looked at me and nodded. "Hey Sherri you look beautiful." She wore the green dress from hot topic and her lilac hair was pulled into an elegant bun on her head wrapped in a braid. Her lipstick matched the color of her hair and her boots were also a lilac color. She looked great. "You look great too." She beamed. She stepped around Luke and gave me a hug. Her arm lingered around my waist as we said goodbye to Luke. "You two have fun now and no funny business you hear." Luke scolded jokingly. Sherri rolled her eyes and laughed. "Okay Dad!" We stepped into the elevator. "He always so precise of you?" Sherri giggled and punched my arm lightly. "Oh yeah he gets jealous so easy." I laughed. We walked out to a waiting car and I opened the passenger side door. "After you." I held my hand out and she took it lightly. "Why thank you kind sir." We giggled rediculously and I closed the door. "Okay point the way Sherri." I got in the driver side and started the car. "You can do this right?" Sherri shifted nervously in her seat. "Yes I've driven in the states before. It's not as difficult as they make it to be." I checked my mirrors and pulled into the street. "Okay then." The next half hour was full of silly banter and directions as we reached our destination. "Here we are!" As soon as I parked the car she hopped out and practically ran to the door. "Look have you ever seen prettier fish?" She leaned over a railing to look into a koi pond. "They're pretty cool aren't they." I looked over too. There was a bright lime green and black one. "Look that fish is more punk rock than me!" We giggled hysterically before walking inside. "Table for two please." the small aisan woman lead us to a table in the back. "Holy shit those lights change color." I stared at the over head lights and watched them change from blue to purple to red and then pink. " Yeah haha if you look over at the booths they change too." Sherri giggled and I glanced at the booths before focusing on her. "So what's good here?" I picked up the menu but neever actually looked at it. "Anything and everything. I like the sushi." i laughed at her as she searched the menu for something to eat. the waitress came and took our order. i told Sherri to get me whatever and she ordere three diffrent sushi rolls. "I dont know how I'm going to like all of this to be honest." I watched as the waitress set down the dish. "Its very very colorful I'll give you that one." Sherri laughed. "That one there is all fruit." she pointed at a brightly colored roll. "What fruits?" she expertly picked up a piece from the roll. "Pinnaple, kiwi, strawberry, and cream cheese. I think it has like a mango sauce over it. it's really good." she put the piece in her mouth and closed her eys. "Mmmmmm." I took that as my cue. i jammed my fork into the fruit roll and put it in my mouth. The flavors were awesome. I couldn't belive how good it was. "Now all you have to do is try the actual sushi." She picked up another really colorful piece and held it out to me. "What's in that one?" i asked hesiantly. "This piece is tuna with crabmeat and some other stuff mixed in the middle. Trust me Michael." I looked up into her hazel eyes. "Okay." I opened my mouth and she set the sushi on my tongue. I chewed trying not to think of the raw fish in my mouth. It was surprisingly good. This was turning out way better than I expected. We continued eating sushi and taling. We laughed as she tried to teach me to use chopsticks. I was a horrible failure at it but she never gave up on me. "What time do you have to be back?" she suddenly asked checking her phone. Shit I forgot about the show tonight. "Uh around 6:45." Her smiled dissapeared. "Well then we better get going." I looked at my watch 6:15. It would take us a half hour to get back to the hotel. "Okay then." I paed the ticket even though Sherri insisted on getting her half. "No, this is a date. I'm going to do this right." She just said okay and returned herwallet to her purse. "I'm getting the next one though." I smiled. Next one, that means she wants too see me again. "Deal." We walked out of the resturaunt and were instantly swarmed by paparazi. I took Sherri and pulled her behind me trying to keep the creeps with cameras from touching her. "Michael who is the girl?" "Is she your girlfriend." "Michael Clifford does this mean the search for the perfect girl is over?" I couldn't believe some of the questions. We had only had one date and i had one guy asking me when the wedding would be. I quickly opened the driver door and Sherri crawled in and over to the passenger side. I got in right after her. The cameras were everywhere. "I am so sorry." I turned to Sherri and to my surprise she was laughing. "Don't be. It comes with being Michael Clifford doesn't it? I expected it at some point tonight." I smiled and started the car. The reporters and camera men got out of my way but didn't stop yelling at the car. I drove away quickly. "Tell me more about you." Once we were in the clear i turned down the radio and began talking to Sherri. "Well I live alone at the moment in the city because I'm going to school here. I'm studying art and interior design." I listened to her tell me about school and then about her family life. Her and her mother were really close and after her dad died she helped her raise her two younger siblings. "So you like art. What kind?" I asked as her family stories came to a close. "I like all forms of art actually but I love painting and drawing." I looked over at her for a moment. "What kind of things do you draw?" I aksed. "I like people but not like traditional portraits, like stylized people. You know big eyes small nose, full lips, long exaggerated eye lashes. I over exaggerate beauty. I had an art teacher tell me I drew people how I saw their souls. She said I see true beauty in the human race." She got lost in thought right then. "I'd love to see some sometime." She turned and grinned at me. "Okay definitly." I pulled in front of the hotel and a man came and took the car. "So youre coming to the show right" I asked as we entered the elevator. "Yes of course. Oh by the way I was wondering could I get an extra ticket. I have a friend who is like the biggest fan of y'all and she would die if she got to see you guys tonight. It's her birthday." I smiled and sennt managment a text. "Done." the elevator doors opened and all three boys were running around the hall half dressed and the make up and stylists were running around. "Catch me if you can!" Calum zipped past me and Sherri without a shirt on. One of the stylist was chasing him laughing holding a black tshirt. "Well I better get going. I'll see you tonight after the show." I leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Okay. Good luck with all... this." she giggled and retreated into the elevator. As soon as the doors closed i joined in the chaos. "Alrights who's ready to rock!" I yelled as I stripped down to my underwear. Tonight was going to be a good night.