Close As Strangers - AFI

Chapter 5

Sabina found a place to stand, where she could see the boys pretty well, yet the crowd was unable to see her as long as she didn't move too much to the left. 

The band entered the stage and started singing some song about being 18.

'I wish that I was 18 ' Luke sang, making the crowd scream and sing with him. 

'Why is Luke singing about wanting to be 18?' Sabina said to herself, 'I'm pretty sure he's 18 already.' 

After finishing the song, Luke took some time to greet the crowd and tell them how amazing it was to be performing at Wembley and how much he had loved this tour so far. Sabina rolled her eyes at his sweet words, he surely knew how to make the girls go crazy. 

'The next song we're going to sing is a cover!' Calum announced, making the crowd scream again. 

'Don't judge, my drumming sucks at this song, let's go!' Ashton yelled before hitting his drums. Sabina directly recognised the tone as "American Idiot" by Green Day, and smiled. Maybe these boys weren't that bad after all. 

After singing a few more songs, the boys ran off stage, only to leave the crowd yelling 'We want more!' 

'And, do you still think we're shitty?' Ashton asked, as soon as Sabina neared the four sweaty boys. 

'Hmm, well, I'm not sure. It could've been better.' Sabina teased, she wasn't going to give this band the satisfaction they were expecting.

'Oh come one! We were great!' Calum threw his hands up in the air, frustrated by Sabina being the stubborn girl she is.

'I have to say,' Sabina paused, looking at each boy with a smirk on her face, 'you were better than I expected.'

'I knew it!' Ashton clapped in his hands and almost made a happy jump, which made Sabina laugh along with the other boys.

'Sorry for my weird band mates,' Luke laughed, pointing at Ashton, 'this band does suck a little.'

'You're not too bad.' Sabina assured, 'Although I don't get 18, I'm pretty sure you're 18 already, so what's that about?' 

'I wrote that song when I was 15, and the girls seem to love it.' Luke explained sheepishly. 

'Oh, well that explains it. I can't wait till I'm 18 either.' Sabina nodded.

'Wait, I thought you said you were 18?' Ashton said, a look of shock in his eyes.

'Oh, busted.' Sabina replied, 'I'm turning 18 next week.' 

'You liar!' Ashton accused, which made Sabina roll her eyes.

'So, what song did you like the most?' Michael asked, he'd been silent the whole time, his attention had been directed at his phone, probably texting his girlfriend or something.

'American Idiot.' Sabina replied, smirking because she picked a song that wasn't theirs on purpose. 

'Oh,' Michael paused, trying to find the right words to say, 'and what song did you like most out of the songs we wrote?'

'Uh,' Sabina had to think about that for a second, 'Good Girls, I guess.' 

''Cause you're a bad girl that hasn't been caught yet?' Ashton smirked.

'Maybe.' Sabina answered emotionless.

'oh, so-' Luke started, but was interrupted by a tall woman. 'You need to get back on stage, guys.' The blondine said sternly, not paying any attention to Sabina.

'Oh, okay. I'll see you after the concert, Sab!' Ashton waved, before running back on stage, followed by the other three boys.

Soon music filled the crowded stadium again.

'I don't even like you, why did you want to go and make me feel this way?

and I don't understand what's happened I keep saying things I never say' the song went. Sabina thought it was a nice melody and started to hum along, moving her head to the beat. 

The band played a few more songs, and the crowd went crazy, singing along every song perfectly, at least for as far as Sabina could tell. Sabina was surprised how good the boys were and how many fans they had. She took a quick glance at the crowd, hoping they wouldn't see her. She saw a lot of flannels, merchandise and a surprisingly big amount of girls with hair dyed in bright colours. She thought it was cool, she'd never dared to dye her hair an odd colour, her's was dark brown which she was content with. 

'Now, we're done for real.' Ashton said as he walked down the stage, giving Sabina a smile. 

'Cool.' Sabina replied, she was suddenly getting really tired and felt her mood switch. 

'Are you okay?' Ashton asked, he had noticed her sudden change in mood and was concerned. 

'Better than ever.' Sabina couldn't help but reply sarcastically, even though she had no reason to be mean to him.

'What's wrong?' Ashton asked, walking towards the small girl.

'Nothing,' Sabina rolled her eyes, 'I should go.' 

'Where are you going?' Luke asked, when he saw Sabina suddenly heading towards the exit. 

'Home.' Sabina answered coldly. She didn't want to go home, but she had to face her mother at some point, the thought of it scared her, but it was not like she had anywhere else to go. She couldn't spend another night at Ben's, he would get worried and ask too many questions.

'Does your mother know you're home late?' Luke asked, as if he could read her mind.

'No. But I don't care about what she thinks.' She did, she knew she would be in trouble. 

'Oh.' Luke said awkwardly, not knowing what to say anymore.

'Yeah. Well, I have to go.. Bye!' Sabina said, before heading off, not knowing if she was going to see the four boys ever again.