Authors: S. Briones Lim
“I find height in a woman quite attractive. Especially since I’m pretty tall myself,” he offered.
Oh yes, I know, Ruthie thought sheepishly. She never realized how gigantic he was in real life.
“You’ll be at the show tomorrow?” Cash asked. He discreetly grabbed her cellphone out of her hand and proceeded to dial his phone number into it. Almost immediately Ruthie heard ringing come for his jacket pocket. Cash handed her phone back, smiling.
“Of course!” Ruthie answered enthusiastically, reaching for her phone. Once again their fingertips brushed and she couldn’t help the slight shudder that worked its way up her spine. She gulped. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
In chivalrous fashion, he grabbed her hand and kissed the top. “Good night.” He winked.
Ruthie hopped out of the car feeling as if she were dancing on cloud nine.
The next morning Ruthie felt like prancing throughout their hotel room. Finally understanding why Disney princesses broke out into song, she twirled around opening the curtains to their room. The only thing putting a damper in her euphoric mood was the sight of Celine sulking in bed.
“Did you talk to Noah?” Ruthie asked, forcing herself to calm down. “I don’t want him to think I put you up to it.”
“But you did,” Celine replied dryly, hugging her pillow tight.
Ruthie raised her eyebrows anxiously. “Okay…then maybe you shouldn’t tell him anything. I don’t want to cause any friction between you two…” her voice trailed off.
“No, I didn’t tell him anything about it and I don’t plan to.” Celine sighed and shut her eyes. She felt horrible for keeping secrets from her fiancé.
“Really?” Ruthie blinked in relief. Thinking twice about it, she scrunched up her mouth. “Are you sure you’re okay with lying to him?”
“I’m not going to lie to him,” Celine snapped. “I just won’t tell him about what happened until we’re back. I don’t want to give him anything more to worry about. He’s already stressed out about work and the wedding.”
“Oh, well, that’s good, I guess,” Ruthie replied quietly.
Celine groaned and pulled a pillow over her face. “I don’t like keeping things from him.”
Ruthie sat quietly, staring at the white puffy pillow in front of her. She carefully pulled it away from Celine’s face. “This has nothing to do with Brian, does it?”
Celine blinked rapidly. She had never been a great liar to begin with and she knew she couldn’t get away with anything when Ruthie was involved. Regardless she was going to try her best to hide the truth. “No! Why would you say that?”
Ruthie pursed her lips. “Celine! Hanging out with an old friend isn’t cheating! You are still the most naïve person I know.” She huffed. “You never even went out with him. He isn’t even an ex-boyfriend!”
“Regardless of what you think,” Celine interrupted, “he was my first love.”
“Uh, okay,” Ruthie replied sarcastically.
Celine propped herself up on her elbows and glared at her friend. “I’ll have you know that there have been scientific studies which prove that if a crush lasts longer than four months it is officially considered love.”
“Scientific study?” Ruthie asked doubtfully. “Who conducted this so-called study? Cosmo?” she snickered.
Celine rolled her eyes. “It’s a plausible study. Apparently after four months, dopamine is secreted in the brain. It’s the same chemical secreted when two people are in love! Hence, my crush was actually love.”
“Dopamine is also secreted when one does cocaine. I don’t see you going about doing lines in the bathroom,” Ruthie snorted.
Ignoring her, Celine continued, “My crush lasted over a year! I think it’s safe to say I was in love with Brian and thus susceptible to the catastrophic effects of unrequited love.”
“Okay, Shakespeare!” Ruthie laughed. “Are you saying you suffered a broken heart because of him?”
“Yes! And I don’t really feel comfortable spending time with him. I would think you’d understand that.” As bad liars go, Celine couldn’t hide the hurt that tinged her voice.
“Okay, I’m sorry,” Ruthie said, smiling, though she didn’t feel sorry at all. “Let’s forget all about last night and just focus on some good old bonding time. What do you say? Bagels and lattes?”
“No one makes a latte as good as I do,” Celine joked.
Ruthie smiled, relieved to have lightened Celine’s mood. She grabbed the covers and proceeded to throw them on the ground. “Hey!” Celine whined. “I was still using those! Haven’t you seen those news shows that say hotel room floors have more bacteria than a toilet bowl?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Ruthie laughed. “Let’s grab some brunch and let’s go! I want to make all those women at the House of Rocks jealous.”
Celine pursed her lips and forced herself off the bed. She couldn’t explain it, but she had the distinct feeling that the previous night would act as some sort of catalyst to events she’d rather avoid.
“Wow!” Celine breathed. She exited Ruthie’s car and looked up at the old building. “I always wanted to come to a concert here, but I never had a chance. This place looks amazing.”
“Yeah, I’ve only seen it from afar,” Ruthie agreed. “Definitely a lot better up close.”
“What did Cash text you again?” Celine asked. Her fingers fumbled with her mint green top nervously. As much as she wanted to meet the other band members she couldn’t shrug off the negative feelings pooling in her stomach.
What did Cash text you? Ruthie still needed to pinch herself as a reminder it was true. Cash Walker had her phone number! He not only had it, but he used it! Giddiness didn’t even begin to describe how she felt. Trying to remain composed, she answered, “He said to just go around to the back. We should have some passes waiting for us there.”
“You sure? I don’t want to end up in jail again. Last night was way too traumatic for me.”
Ruthie shook her head with exasperation. “We’re not going to end up in jail again. Geez, just relax, woman.”
They edged their way towards the venue and spotted the line of fans that were camped in front of the building. The women in line varied in age and were decked out in Intensity gear. Celine winced, finally realizing how ridiculous she had looked. As they walked beside the line, each fan narrowed their eyes at the friends as if they were vultures honing in on their kill. Ruthie could never understand why Intensifiers were so competitive with one another.
“Check everyone out. They look ready to pounce on us,” Celine whispered.
“Well, at least we’re entering through the back. I have a feeling that if we had to go through them, we’d be mauled to death,” Ruthie replied.
Celine nodded her head, imagining both their corpses torn apart as Intensity’s song, “I Will Never Leave You,” played in the background.
“Feels a bit different knowing we actually have permission to be back here, doesn’t it?” Ruthie took a chance at joking with Celine. She knew her friend still wasn’t over getting arrested, but to Ruthie it was a blessing in disguise. If they hadn’t been booked downtown, they’d never have had a chance of meeting Cash on a personal level.
“I could have told you that,” Celine shot back. “That’s why you should have listened to me in the first place and let me use my connections!”
“Whatever,” Ruthie responded. “It happened the way it was supposed to.”
“Right.” Celine huffed, unconvinced.
They reached the back of the building and were faced by a chain-link fence. “Well, this is a bit anti-climactic,” Celine mused, running her fingers over the metal fence. “How do we get in?”
“I don’t know.” Ruthie frowned and fumbled for her phone. She gripped at the silicone phone cover. “Do you think I should text Cash?”
“Well, you’re buddy-buddy with him now. Why not?” Celine replied, gripping onto the fence.
Ruthie glanced over at her friend and frowned. There was a hint of sarcasm in Celine’s voice, but she decided to ignore it. “Yeah, I guess I’ll text him.”
“Hey!” A deep voice called out. The two girls jumped and noticed a giant man walking along the other side of the fence. Why did security always have to be so huge? “Are you Ruthie Cruz and Celine Fabre?” Both girls apparently lost the ability to speak and nodded quietly. “Brian said you’d be showing up around this time. Come in.” He unlatched the gate and motioned for the girls to follow him.
Sharing one quick glance, the two followed the man and soon found themselves entering a bright red door. They struggled to keep up with him as he navigated through a series of hallways. When they reached a large room, the man grabbed a clipboard from what appeared to be a case of amps and unclipped two lanyards. “Here,” he said, holding out the plastic cases towards them. “Wear these and don’t take them off. No point in getting arrested again, right?” He began to chuckle. Ruthie’s face grew red with embarrassment while Celine just grabbed the pass with irritation. The man grinned. “Intensity is going to be here within the hour. Just sit in the green room and wait for them there and don’t touch anything.”
“Yes, Mom,” Celine quipped. He glanced down at her with annoyance.
“Shh,” Ruthie whispered. “Don’t piss him off! Don’t you want to be here?”
Celine sighed. “Yes, I do. I’m sorry. Don’t mind me. I guess I’m still recovering from the thought that I almost spent the night in jail.”
The man must have overheard because he started laughing. “Trust me, Sweetie, it could have been worse. Besides, after a while you get used to the whole thing.”
Celine didn’t even want to imagine what this man (who they were trusting enough to follow down a dark hallway) could have done to have gotten “used to” being in jail. Luckily, the walk didn’t last long.
“Here’s the green room,” he said, gesturing towards an open door. Celine peeked inside and was surprised to find a regular white-walled room, with two couches, a table and a TV set. She had always heard of the crazy “riders” celebrities often demanded from venues. The fact that the room was quite simple only made her love Intensity even more. The man instructed, “Stay here and don’t go wandering around. You’re already a liability being in here to begin with, but I have other stuff to take care of.”
“Yes, sir!” Ruthie replied, stepping inside. The man pursed his lips, unsure of whether to take Ruthie’s response as sarcasm or agreement. Nonetheless, he left both girls alone.
“I can’t believe we’re backstage! Like officially backstage!” Ruthie grabbed at her lanyard and pulled at the plastic sleeve excitedly. She thrust it forward and pointed to the Intensity logo scripted in the front. “Look! We even have passes.”
Celine pursed her lips and refrained from reminding her that they would have had passes all along if Ruthie had only listened to her. Not wanting to start a fight, Celine walked over to the table and noticed a bowl of candy. “Do you think we’re allowed to have some?” Without waiting for Ruthie to answer, she began digging through the bowl in attempt to find her favorite candy bar.
“Hey! Don’t touch that!” a voice called out from the door. Celine froze automatically, dropping a piece of taffy from her hand. The voice began to laugh. “Just kidding! Go ahead, have some! One of these days, the guys’ blood sugar levels are going to go through the roof!” Celine watched as Brian walked into the room and sucked in her breath. His hair had the same messy sexiness that he was known for back in high school, but without the spikes and blond tips.
She stepped back from the bowl and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, I have a weakness for Caramel—”
“Crunch?” Brian interrupted, laughing. “Yeah, I remember.” He walked up next to her and dug into the bowl. He lifted his hand, revealing two Caramel Crunch bars and handed them to Celine. “How could I forget? You’d be munching on one every single day before fourth period!”
“Wow, I can’t believe you remember that!” Celine breathed, glancing at the red wrappers in her hand.
Ruthie sat quietly on the couch, watching the exchange. She raised an eyebrow as Brian playfully bumped into Celine’s hip. Ruthie took the opportunity to get up from the couch, and like a protective sister, walked up between them. “Hey! Thanks for getting us back here!” she said in an artificially high voice.
“Oh, of course! The least we could do for getting you both arrested last night.”
Celine laughed. “Uh, yeah. That wasn’t your fault. We were stupid enough to try to sneak in. Besides, you already made it up to us by getting us out and treating us to pancakes.”
“Nope, that was me!” Cash’s voice interrupted their conversation. He walked into the room decked out in an expensive looking leather jacket and dark jeans. Celine noticed the sole of his shoes were painted red and couldn’t help but wonder how many thousands of dollars they cost him. Cash ran his hands through his dirty blond hair and flashed his million dollar smile. “Least I can do for getting you both arrested.”
“We already covered that point,” Brian muttered in annoyance.
Ignoring him, Cash walked up to Ruthie. Doing a mock bow, he grabbed her hand and once again kissed the top of it. “Lovely seeing you again.”
Ruthie giggled. “Of course! How could we miss this opportunity?”
Celine frowned. She hadn’t seen Ruthie act like such a giggling mess since their Spring Break trip to Daytona over eight years ago. She hated to admit it, but even the bitch at the gym seemed more endearing than the schoolgirl catastrophe in front of her.
She cleared her throat awkwardly and asked, “Are the other guys coming as well?” She could feel Brian’s eyes burning into her back and was growing more uncomfortable by the minute. She didn’t want to think she was putting herself through this torture without a reason.
“They’ll be here soon,” Brian answered from behind her. Celine looked over her shoulder and threw him a polite smile, then quickly averted her eyes.
“So, what happens before a show?” Ruthie chirped, trying to alleviate the growing awkwardness. She backed into the couch and gracefully sat down, making sure her tight skirt wouldn’t ride up.
“Well, we usually relax for a bit. Some of us eat. Some of us nap. Mostly we eat.” Cash sat down beside her and outstretched his arm so that it rested on the back of the couch, just inches from her neck. His arm brushed against Ruthie’s hair, causing her to tremble.
“Did someone say eat?” Like a stampede, four men walked into room. Even in their casual clothes they made up one of the most attractive groups of men Ruthie had ever seen.
“Just candy,” Celine offered meekly, gripping her two chocolate bars nervously.
Zach was the first to extend his hand. “Hi, we didn’t get to meet due to your little dramatic performance last night.” Despite the little jest in his comment, he said it so sweetly that Celine found it hard to feel offended. She grabbed his hand and shook it. She immediately felt her pulse race. She was sure her cheeks had flushed to a warm pink and prayed that he wouldn’t notice—or at the very least wouldn’t mention it.
Brian, on the other hand, didn’t look as amused. “You guys are late,” he said sternly, tapping on the face of his watch.
Zach looked up apologetically. He was the second oldest in the group and seemed to be one of the more responsible members. “You can blame Braedon. He got tied up with a redhead at the radio station.” The two men turned their heads and eyed the tall blond man who was munching away on a chocolate bar. He winked and shrugged his shoulders in reply.
Brian rolled his eyes. “You guys aren’t kids anymore. You can’t be doing the same stupid things you used to do. This is a business. Act professional!”
Ignoring Brian’s tirade, the rest of the guys began to introduce themselves. With each handshake Celine felt her initial apprehension fading. She was here for Intensity—a childhood dream! Brian just happened to be in the same place and there was no harm or fault in that.
“I must admit, I was quite nervous meeting you women today,” Conner joked as he rubbed his hand over his buzzed head. He was a bit shorter than the media portrayed him, but his sparkling ice blue eyes made up for any difference in height.
“Why’s that?” Celine asked, feeling alarmed. Great. Thanks to Ruthie, they were now thought of as class one celebrity stalkers. Ruthie would not only be making it up to her in this life, but in the afterlife as well.
Conner took a bite of a candy bar and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The act was so “normal” that it reminded her that these men were in fact humans and not some alien hybrids. Conner grinned and threw a sly wink at Brian. “Well, Brian wouldn’t stop going on and on about you. Guess you really made an impression on him.”
Brian flushed and cleared his throat. “Like I said, they were great friends of mine.” He quickly glanced over at Cash, who had somehow worked his way closer to Ruthie. Frowning, Brian called out, “Not to be the party killer here—”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Cash muttered only loud enough for Ruthie to hear. The corner of her mouth slid up, happy to share a conspiratorial joke with him.
Brian rolled his eyes and scratched his forehead. “You all really need to start getting ready. The fans are going to be ushered in at any second. I suggest you all go to wardrobe and makeup now.”
“Makeup?” Cash laughed. “I go au natural.”
Ruthie couldn’t help herself and began imagining Cash literally au natural. She felt her body warming and quickly crossed her legs to push the feeling away. As if sensing Ruthie’s growing lust, Cash slightly turned his head and winked in her direction. Any chance of her hormones calming down was quickly thrown out the window.
Ruthie had to refrain from fanning herself. With a tight smile she breathed, “Will we get to watch the concert with the other fans?”
Brian began to answer, but before he could even form a sentence, Cash interrupted. “You’ll be in the wings, of course. I had to make sure the most important guests were taken care of.” He slyly lifted a lock of Ruthie’s hair and rubbed it between his fingertips.
Despite Ruthie’s euphoric expression, Celine couldn’t shake the unease she felt watching the two. She couldn’t explain it, but despite how charming he was, she couldn’t help but feel he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. She had no reason to believe he was anything but the nice guy who bailed them out; however she still felt wary of him.