by K E Osborn
I can’t wait.
The bus pulls up and the driver announces that we can all get off. Dad yells out for us to stick together and for no one to wander off. I race down the stairs and look up to see Mike as he smiles. I smile back, then he steps up to me and walks off the bus after me.
“This is so exciting, Mike!”
“It sure is, Miss Ella, but stay close. There’s a lot of people here, okay?”
Annie steps off the bus and I look out into the sea of faces, then up to all the laminated screens in Times Square and it really is a sight to behold. Seeing it now in the darkness really is something magical. It is breathtaking. And I smile so wide as Staked and Slayed all walk off the bus and press the button on the sidewalk lights for us to cross into the middle of the street. I must admit I’m a little on edge because it only takes one person to recognise one of us and this could turn crazy, but we have to have a life to live and seeing one of the world’s most famous landmarks is something I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m not missing this for all the tea in China. The buzzer sounds for us to cross the road and everyone is chatting cheerily as we walk into the middle of the road onto the path section, so we can look up at the billboards and gaze in awe. I’m so excited I could squeal, but I try to keep my enthusiasm to myself. I look up at the changing billboards and I’m excited to see ads for television shows that are on in America and Broadway acts. Everything looks so bright and exciting. I’m in my element when suddenly a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist embracing me tightly. I giggle and lean into the arms, feeling instantly safe and warm knowing who they belong to the moment they’re wrapped around me. I know his smell, it’s so uniquely him. I turn in his grip to see Chad and I smile.
“Isn’t this amazing, wasabi?” he asks.
I laugh and nod. “Yeah, it really is. I missed you and I’ve been stupid for ignoring you this past week and for trying to stay away from you. Our friendship means too much to me to let it slip away over something silly,” I say and Chad looks at me raising an eyebrow.
“I thought you were avoiding me. Why?” he asks holding me a little tighter.
“It doesn’t even matter, it was stupid and I’m over it now. Let’s just go back to being friends, I hate not having you around.”
“Okay, was it something I did, though? Like did I do something?”
“No, really don’t worry about it. It was all me,” I say and he furrows his brows like he isn’t convinced. I turn in his grip and wrap my arms around his neck and pull him in for a hug.
“I’m just so glad we’re friends again,” I say and he chuckles.
“I didn’t know we weren’t friends, but I’m glad you won’t be avoiding me anymore.”
Pulling back from him our eyes lock and I swallow hard as that surge flows through me again, that unmistakable swell of something that I can’t control or understand. But as I look into his eyes I know that Chad can feel it too. Caleb calls out for everyone to look up which forces Chad and me to break our gaze. We look up at the billboard to see a Slayed World Tour ad come up with Staked as the backing band. The picture of Slayed is huge and a smaller picture of Staked is at the bottom of the advertisement. I smile so wide and can’t contain myself. I scream jumping in Chad’s arms making him laugh. Chad cheers with me too and then everyone else starts to cheer as we all look up at the advertising on the billboard. Mike shakes his head and stands closer as we notice people milling around us starting to stare at us laughing as we all make a scene in the middle of Times Square.
“Fuck yeah baby, we’re on a screen in Times-fucking-Square!” Caleb calls out and then a girl from the other side of the road screams loudly. We all stop celebrating and check her out as she stares at us and then it clicks.
Minions!
“Shit!” Dad says as she races toward us not even looking at the cabs coming her way. They honk their horns while she screams running straight for Dad.
“Mike, get the girls to the bus…now,” Dad calls out.
“It’s Colter-fucking-Slade,” the girl calls out and then more people turn to see what’s going on. Mike grabs Annie and then the other security start to surround us as people start to scream and rush forward.
“Oh my God, it’s Caleb!” someone screams out and runs up to him.
“It’s both of them, it’s the band’s Slayed and Staked, they’re both here!” someone else screams and then it’s pandemonium.
“Fuck,” Chad says as he grabs hold and pulls me to him forcefully as a swarm of people rush through the streets not caring about the traffic just so they can get to us. Security surrounds us, but as Chad clings onto me some of the crazy fans try to grab at him.
“Chad. Oh my God, it’s Chad Everly, the drummer. Hit me with your sticks, big boy.” One girl yells out as Chad tries to walk me to the bus.
“Ella, Ella, are you and Chad a thing?” Someone else yells out.
“Colt, I want your babies.” Another girls screams.
“Mike, get the girls on the bus, now,” Dad yells out and Mike continues to pull Annie and Mum to the bus. Chad follows sheltering my head from the girls trying to pull at my hair.
“Just let us touch you, please, just one touch.” Someone calls out and I furrow my brows wondering what kind of freak she must be. Chad holds onto me for dear life as Mike pushes through the crazy minions. I look back to see Caleb, Aston, Dad and the rest of Slayed dealing with the minions, and I’m actually scared for them. I see they have security with them, but I’m still worried. I know what the minions are capable of and especially in such a high traffic area. They nearly killed Mum in an incident, not unlike this, where the fans were out of control and they pushed her into the path of a van. This obviously wasn’t the smartest of ideas, I don’t want any of my family or friends put in danger.
“Chad, what about the rest of them?” I ask as we fight through the crowd and make our way back to the bus.
“Don’t worry the security team will get them back here. If not, the police will be here soon I’m sure, they won’t want a disturbance like this holding up the traffic in Times Square for too long, Ella. It’ll be okay.”
Mike ushers us onto the bus and Chad walks with me to the back. Mum and Annie follow and Mum rushes up to me looking over and touching me frantically.
“Are you okay sweetheart? Did they hurt you?”
I can see the concern etched on her face as I brush down my dress.
“I’m fine Mum, Chad kept me safe. How are you and Annie? Are you two okay?” I ask as Annie sits down in the seat right next to where I’m standing.
“Bloody minions, they’re everywhere, ruining everything. I didn’t even want to come on this fucking bus tour and look what happens,” Annie says. Mum exhales and runs her hand through her hair looking out the window at Dad, who’s making his way back to the bus now with everyone else.
“We’re fine, Ella. I just get very tense when there’s minions and traffic,” she says. I nod rushing forward and hugging her tightly.
“I know, but we’re all okay, Mum.” She nods and sits down in the seat her eyes firmly set on the window watching Dad and the others.
I turn to Chad and we sit down as Mike guards the door of the bus while people are screaming and trying to get on board. Chad takes my hand and looks me in the eyes.
“Thanks for helping me back here.”
He smiles. “Hey, I would protect you with my life, Ella. There was no way those minions were getting to you.” I lean into his side and he wraps his arm around my shoulders and cuddles into me. The warmth and admiration I feel oozing from him is unmistakable. I always feel safe with Chad, like I know he’d protect me with his life. Like I’m more important to him than the air he breathes.
Mum suddenly stands and rushes to the front of the bus making me look forward as Dad and everyone else climbs on board. She collapses into Dad’s arms and I breathe out a relaxed sigh as everyone makes it back to the bus without any apparent harm or injury.
“Dad, are you
guys okay?” Chad calls out to Dingo, who’s walking toward us.
“Yeah, we’re okay. Lucky your mother and the boys are back at the hotel. I’m relieved they didn’t get caught up in this. I would’ve been worried sick. I’m glad you got Ella out. I’m proud of you son,” Dingo says and Chad smiles and wraps his arm tighter around me pulling me into him even further.
“I’m just glad everyone is okay,” I say as people start to bang on the windows of the bus.
“Jesus Christ,” Chad says looking at the fans crying at the windows.
“Okay, if everyone is accounted for I think we better head back to the hotel,” Johnny states and Dad agrees as he holds onto Mum tightly while she softly cries into his shoulder. I knew she wouldn’t deal too well with this.
The bus starts to slowly drive off and the fans run alongside as we move, but eventually they can’t keep up as the bus drives off down Forty-Second Street and away from the chaos that we caused.
“That was hectic,” Caleb says and the whole bus apart from Annie laughs.
“That was fucking idiocy, that’s what that was,” Annie pipes up and puts her earphones back in her ears.
We all look at each other and smile, even though minions are terrifying, it was kinda cool to be in Times Square and to see our names up in lights. But then to have the fans react to us like that, it was like recognition that we deserved to be there.
Was it scary? Yes.
But was it also thrilling? Hell yes.
“You okay, Worcestershire?” Chad asks.
I laugh and shake my head. “How many more food names have you got in that head of yours?”
“A shitload, vinegar,” he replies and I laugh again.
“Yeah, I’m okay, just trying to live in the moment I suppose,” I answer his previous question.
He smirks and raises an eyebrow. “And what’s that moment telling you to do right now?”
“Cuddle into my best friend all the way back to the hotel.”
“That I can live with.” He leans in kissing my head softly while running his fingertips feather-light up my arms.
We arrive back at the hotel and we all make our way to our rooms. Everyone is talking about how crazy it was that the people in Times Square suddenly went crazy when they recognised us. Chad hasn’t let go of me since then and I haven’t wanted him to. Being in his arms at the moment feels right, and as he walks me to my door, I feel like we’re back on the same page.
“I’m glad you’re talking to me again. I hated it when you would walk away from me for no actual reason all week. I still don’t know what that was about, though,” he says and I shake my head.
“Doesn’t even matter, it was nothing. I’m just glad to have you back. It feels wrong when you’re not around.” I take his hand in mine as we walk up to my door. Annie walks past us and opens the hotel door with her keycard and walks in letting the door slam behind her. I chuckle and shake my head.
“She’s in a great mood, as usual.”
Chad smirks and moves a strand of hair behind my ear and his hand lingers on my cheek making my breathing hitch. I look into his eyes and swallow hard as our eyes lock and an intense feeling fills the air. His thumb gently smooths over my cheek and the warmth of the sensation sends a chill down my body.
“Thank you for protecting me from the minions,” I whisper, barely even audible as my breath seems to be taken away.
“I will always be here for you, Ella.”
My stomach does a little back flip and then a swarm of butterflies flurry around making me feel nervous. I clear my throat and he leans in close. I lick my lips inadvertently and exhale looking at his lips. They’re so soft looking, so pink and inviting. I blink my eyes a few times trying to stop those thoughts as I lean in to kiss his cheek goodnight. He turns slightly, and I end up kissing the side of his mouth. The touch of our lips although only slight, sends a shock wave through me and I don’t know what to do so my only reaction is to chuckle. He laughs with me at the accidental almost kiss, and I shake my head and lean in hugging him as my lips tingle from the electrical surge I felt from our lips touching. I swallow hard while an awkward tension fills the hallway.
“Okay, well, good night then,” Chad says.
“Yep, good night,” I reply in a high-pitched tone, making me sound even more flustered than I wanted to let on. I mentally slap my head and pull back from him with a racing heart and rapid breathing.
“Thanks again,” I say and he smiles.
“Anytime, baking powder.”
I smirk and shake my head taking my keycard out of my bag, turning and swiping the door.
“Night, Chad.”
“Night, Ella, sweet dreams.” He then turns and walks down toward his room with Aston. I take a deep breath and shake my head as I move into my room.
Get a grip!
Walking over to my bed, I see Annie is already curled up in hers with the television on. Pulling on my pyjamas, I hop into bed and snuggle down cuddling into my pillow, and when I close my eyes Chad’s face is the last thing I see.
We’re at Madison Square Garden for the sound check, and after last night’s bus tour incident and my moments with Chad, I’m feeling a little confused again. I haven’t seen or talked to Danger today and, to be honest, I don’t know what I’m thinking about anything anymore.
When I’m around Chad, he confuses everything I know about Danger for me. But then as soon as I’m around Danger, he makes me want him again. It’s so confusing, and for a girl who’s never had a man in her life before, I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing. So who knows if I’m doing the right thing? I’m walking around the side of the stage lost in my thoughts when a set of muscular arms wrap around me.
“Hey, I’ve missed you. How was your bus tour?” Danger asks.
“It was good,” I say and dislodge myself from him feeling weird about being in his arms.
He raises his eyebrow and tilts his head. “What’s wrong?” He takes my hand in his and rubs my skin with his thumb tenderly.
I swallow hard because I don’t want to tell him how confused I am, so I decide to tell him about last night instead. “No, nothing. It’s just last night we were in Times Square and one of the billboards had an advertisement for the Slayed world tour pop up. Well, we all got a little over-excited to see ourselves up there, so we pointed to it and started cheering and then people started to recognise us. It got a little crazy, the minions begun to surround us, but it was okay because Chad pulled me to him and he protected me from their hands. He held me in his strong arms and made it so no one could get to me. He was so brave and fended them off. It was unbelievable Danger, you should have been ther—”
He exhales forcefully shaking his head and throws his hands in the air breaking our contact. “Are you purposely trying to make me mad?” he yells, taking me by surprise.
I open my eyes wide as he glares at me and shake my head and stuttering, “N…No, w…why would I d…do that?”
He turns his back to me as his chest starts to heave. “I can’t fucking believe you sometimes, Ella. Do you even think before you speak?” he yells again and turns back to face me. His nostrils are flaring and his face is turning red. “I swear I have no idea what your game is right now, but I’m not playing. You hear me? Do you fucking hear me?” he yells and then turns and storms away.
I furrow my brows wondering where that all came from, and what the hell made him yell like that. My eyes start to water and my chest tightens making it hard to breathe. I hate that he’s so mad, but I don’t understand why he’s mad at all? We’ve just had a fight, but I have no idea what the hell it was even about.
Thinking of him yelling at me like that is making me angry. What gives him the right to yell at me at all? How dare he talk to me like that? I’m getting more and more worked up by the second, and he didn’t even tell me what he was angry about before he stormed off in a huff. I need to vent, and Chad is the only person who listens to me. I make my way down to the green
room and notice Chad sitting playing with his phone. He turns and smiles wide and then his smile falls when he sees me storming toward him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Danger, he’s a dickhead,” I reply and Chad laughs.
“Well, I already knew that. What’s he done this time?” he asks exhaling and looking a little annoyed himself.
“He just got all huffy with me over nothing.”
He shakes his head and slumps onto the lounge suite. “Ella, why do you put up with him? Do you even like him, or does he just have an enormous cock?”
“Excuse me?” I ask defensively.
“The guy’s an A-grade wanker. I have no idea what you see in him. He treats you like shit, and yet you go running back and forth to him like a lost puppy. Then when you fight with him, you come to me for support.”
“Well, you’re my friend. I’m supposed to be able to come to you for support, aren’t I?”
He exhales and looks away from me as Annie comes storming in ranting about how the wardrobe department fucked up her outfits, yet again.
“Look Ella, just deal with Danger however you want to. You won’t want my advice anyway,” he says and I furrow my brows and move my weight onto one hip.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Don’t take it out on me because you’re having a shit day. Danger is a dick, the sooner you realise it, the better off you’ll be,” he says standing, then walks off.
I exhale and shake my head wondering what the hell is up everyone’s arses today.
I walk away and find the kitchen, feeling the tension inside me boiling to the surface. I sit down on the bench in front of the platters and rest my head in my hands. I don’t know how, but the two men in my life I have managed to piss me off completely in the space of five minutes of each other.
