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Chapter 2: Strange Encounters of the Girly
Kind
“We are at the Embassy Suites hotel in downtown Joliet. At the moment, we’re
looking for the restaurant, which we can’t find for shit because we have no
sense of direction and we’re too lazy to ask,” Faith was saying as she
walked forward with the camera in her hands and the lens point to her face. She
could see through the LCD that she was in the dead center of the shot and there
was just enough light to illuminate her face without needing to take out the
extra light. She kept walking down the foyer of the hotel with Morgan and Spaz
on either side of her. “This really sucks because I know we’re lost, and
nobody is bothering to ask for directions. Come on, Spaz, you’re the outgoing
on, you ask,” Faith jabbed her left elbow in Spaz’s side.
“Why don’t you put the camera down and do it yourself?” Spaz retorted as
she glared at her.
“I’ll do it,” Morgan finally sighed as she walked towards the front desk.
She returned a few moments later and added, “Down the hall to your right.”
“We’re stupid,” Faith declared as she and the other two followed the
directions and finally made their way into the restaurant. Faith put down her
camera the moment she walked through the Victorian doors and saw that she was
underdressed for the occasion. Darren was standing there waiting for them in a
black suit and tie. The only things that Faith found strange were his shoes;
they were a pair of plain sneakers, like something out of “West Side Story.”
‘I feel like a ditz,’ Faith though as she tried to turn away.
“Hey, I’ve been waiting for nearly half an hour for you guys to arrive. What
took you so long?” Darren asked once he noticed them.
“Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Duh wouldn’t ask for directions,” Morgan replied
as she rolled her eyes.
Darren began to laugh. “Come on, Leonie and the others are waiting at the
table for us,” he replied.
“Question: why do you look so good?” Spaz asked.
Darren laughed again as he took her arm and led her towards the table. “Well,
I’ve been doing interviews all day, so I had to look good. The shoes were just
for comic relief and comfort. I hate dress shoes. They kill my feet,” he
explained.
“So we’re not underdressed?” Morgan asked just before they reached the
table.
“No, the others are wearing basically the same thing,” Darren replied as he
let go of Spaz and dropped back to where Faith was walking. “Hi,” he
whispered into her ear. “You looked a little lonely. Why the long face?”
“I just feel a little weird, that’s all,” she answered. But Faith wasn’t
telling the truth. She was beginning to get bothered by the fact that Spaz was
doing what she usually did when it came to a guy that Faith liked. She was
always trying to take him away from her.
“Then sit next to me. You’re not the only one that feels weird in this room.
Look at me, I’m a freak on a leash,” Darren tried to cheer her up. She
smiled at him, her eyes glittering in the pale light of the room. “You know,
you’re really pretty. Did I get a chance to tell you that earlier?”
“No, but thank you,” she softly replied as he pulled out a chair for her and
she sat down. He sat beside her, his hand gently brushing up against hers,
sending shivers down her spine.
“Now that the three of you are finally here, we can get down to business,”
Leonie said as she pulled out a notebook.
“Spoil the moment, why don’t you,” Ben whined as she accidentally jabbed
him in the ribs. “Give them some time to introduce themselves. We don’t even
know who they are, and you’re already expecting them to sign a contract.”
“Yeah, I’d like to know who I’m going to be sharing the bus with for the
next couple of months,” Lee chipped in.
“Uh… Fine. Sorry,” Leonie said. She turned to the three girls and said,
“Let’s start with the basics: name, age, where you’re from, that kind of
stuff.”
“I’ll go first!” Spaz volunteered. “My name is Spaz Lieberman, I’m 18,
and I’m from Lombard, Illinois.”
“Spaz? That’s an odd name,” Ben commented. “Is that your real name?”
“Hell no. My real name is Shannon, but I’ve been called Spaz since I was
five because I would always spaz out. I don’t even respond to Shannon anymore.
All in all, I’m a nutcase,” she explained.
“I’m Morgan Fisher. I’m also 18 and from Lombard. These two usually call
me Mor, and that’s about it,” Morgan said.
“And I’m Faith Somers. As the other two, I’m 18 years old and from the
boring little two of Lombard. We all just graduated high school, so we decided
to take a road trip, but I guess that plan has just been upgraded. We’re all
going to college. I’m studying film and video at Columbia in downtown Chicago,
Spaz is going to Texas A&M for marine biology, and Morgan is going to Yale
for medicine,” Faith finished explaining.
“So that’s why you have the video camera,” Darren replied.
“The camera is actually for a documentary I’m filming for my first project
in film. It was going to be all about the time we spent during summer break, but
I don’t know how that’s gonna pan out now that we’ve joined the tour.
Hopefully you’ll let me finish my project. I promise I won’t put any nutty
stuff on there. If anything, it’ll be like a really clean episode of the Real
World,” Faith said.
“And you can trust Faith, she won’t do anything really stupid if she catches
something that’s not supposed to be caught on tape. If anything, she’ll put
it away in her box and forget about it completely,” Morgan jumped in. “If
you want to see what some of her stuff, she’ll probably be glad to prove that
she’s not out to ruin careers.”
“Yeah, she’s got some great stuff. She made this awesome documentary about
high school life last year as her final project in her TV Production class,”
Spaz joined the conversation. “I think she has it right now, as a matter of
fact.”
“No, I don’t, but I can show it to you tomorrow if you want,” Faith
replied.
“Sounds good to me. We could watch it on the big screen,” Ben said.
“Okay, now that everybody knows everybody, we need to get back down to
business,” Leonie cut in.
“Wait, they still don’t know who we are,” Lee interrupted.
“Fine. But to speed up the process, I’ll make the introductions,” she
said. “That’s Ben Carey, our guitarist, Karl Lewis, our drummer, Lee Novak,
our bassist, and the one who rarely talks but sings like an angel, Angi Bekker.
Okay, now that we know everybody, I can finally get down to business.” Leonie
handed Faith, Spaz, and Morgan three sheets of paper, each one with an X on the
bottom for them to sign their names. Faith and Spaz quickly scribbled their
names down on the paper as Morgan took her time reading it.
“Hey, this is not bad for a summer job,” she said, looking at the numbers.
“Two grand a show, twenty shows, forty grand. Holy shit! That’s my first
year’s tuition!”
“That’s my entire tuition, all four years!” Faith exclaimed. “Damn, I
had no idea that I’d make this much money in one summer. That’s my
parents’ salary for the entire year!”
“If we had more roadies, then the cut would be smaller,” Leonie said. “But
we only need three for this trip, so you guys are lucky.”
“Lucky! We’ve just won the lottery!” Morgan joked.
“Could we quit the money talk and get on to dinner. I’m starving,” Ben
interrupted. Leonie made a face at him then rolled her eyes. As soon as Morgan
was finished signing her contract, she put the papers in her notebook and they
ordered dinner.
Faith stayed quiet most of them time, her thoughts swirling around the fact that
she was actually touring with Darren Hayes and making the most money she would
ever see for the rest of her life. Yet there was something in the back of her
mind that still nagged her, something she had been pushing back for so long, but
had begun to bubble up again. She started to push it away again when she felt
Darren take her hand and pull her up.
“Dance with me,” he said.
“What?” Faith asked, trying to get the idea to stick in her mind.
“Dance with me,” Darren repeated as he pulled her to the center of the room
where the band was playing a slow melody.
“Okay,” she replied as he wrapped his arm around her waist and took her
other hand into the palm of his. The melody ended as another more familiar one
began.
“Gotta find a way, yeah, I can't wait another day. Ain’t nothin’ gonna
change if we stay ‘round here. Gotta do what it takes ’cause it's all in our
hands. We all make mistakes, yeah... but it’s never too late to start again,
take another breath and say another prayer… And fly away from here. Anywhere,
yeah, I don’t care. We just fly away from here. Our hopes and dreams are out
there somewhere. Won’t let time pass us by. We just fly…” Darren sang.
“Aerosmith,” Faith replied. “I’m impressed. You really know your stuff,
or are you just trying to impress me?”
“I don’t know my stuff, and I’m not trying to impress you, but am I?” he
asked.
“A little,” she said. “Now, if you knew everything by Frank Sinatra, then
I would be impressed.”
“Old Blue Eyes? I love his music!” Darren exclaimed as he moved a little
closer to Faith, his arm wrapping a little tighter around her waist. She
didn’t mind it, though. It all felt good to her.
“Name a few relatively unknown songs that he sang,” she challenged.
“Okay, how about ‘Strangers In The Night,’ ‘The Impossible Dream,’ and
‘Summer Wind?’”
“Okay, now I’m impressed. But if you knew my favorite song by Sinatra, then
I think I’d kiss you.”
“Really? You’d kiss me? Are you willing to sake on it?” Darren asked as
they stopped dancing and began walking away from the floor. He led her outside
to the patio where the moon bathed the landscape in its silvery glow.
“I’ll shake on it,” Faith replied as she stuck out her hand. “I’ll
kiss you if you can figure out my favorite Sinatra song in one shot.”
“Deal,” Darren said as they shook. He closed his eyes and began to think out
loud. “You strike me as the loud, but somewhat reserved type. You have a
really tough exterior, but inside, you’re a puddle of mush. Hmm… What song
would fit your personality? It can’t be ‘It Had To Be You,’ that’s too
easy. Maybe ‘Fly Me To The Moon…’ No. Oh, I got it now. Your favorite song
by Frank Sinatra is ‘The Way You Look Tonight.’” Faith’s mouth dropped
open as she stared at him with wide eyes. “Am I right?”
She barely nodded her head. ‘How could he have possibly known?’ she asked
herself. “Wow,” was all she could say at first. “You’re good.”
“I know,” Darren replied nonchalantly. “So, and I gonna get that kiss now
or do I have to wait until later?”
“How did you know, though?” Faith asked.
“Well, I guess I was lucky, that’s all.”
“Lucky, huh?” She moved closer to him, her hands gently grabbing onto his
jacket and pulling him towards her. She smiled as she added, “I’ll show you
lucky.” In a quick, almost unnoticeable motion, she had her hand on his cheek
and her lips pressed up against his. It was soft at first, but after a few
minutes, grew deeper and more passionate as her tongue gently slipped over his.
They let go only long enough to catch a breath but were at it again in less than
a few seconds.
Faith was unable to let go. Darren was probably one of the best kissers she had
even had the privilege to lock lips with. Her eyelids tightened as he began
moving away from her lips and down to her neck. Her hands fiddled with his hair,
begging him to keep kissing her that way.
Darren couldn’t stop himself. Faith was something else. Her lips were soft and
tender, willing to give soft kisses whenever one was called for. As he moved
down her face and past her jaw line, he could think about nothing more than her
soft skin illuminated by the silvery rays of the moon.
“Darren,” she moaned as her hands ran through his hair.
Time seemed to stand still as they kissed out on the patio. Nobody was around,
or at least they though nobody was around. Spaz had noticed them go outside
after the song in the ballroom was finished and decided to follow them with
video camera in hand. She was catching everything on tape when she felt
something brush beneath her nose. She tried to wipe it off, but the tickling
sensation wouldn’t leave her alone, and she sneezed.
Darren and Faith immediately pulled away from each other when they heard it.
They looked in Spaz’s direction; stunned that someone was actually watching
them.
“Ohh! That was great!” Spaz said as she began to run back to the table.
“Get back here!” Faith yelled as she followed her through the room. “I’m
gonna kill you!”
“Save me!” Spaz screamed as she hopped into Ben’s arms and put the camera
beneath the table.
“Huh?” He looked at her, shocked and bewildered.
“Faith is gonna kill me ‘cause I just caught her and Darren making out!”
she replied.
“Oh, God! That was not what we were doing!” Faith shouted back as she tried
to grab the camera.
“Yeah, it was! I have proof!” Spaz pulled out the camera and rewound it to
the point where she first caught the two kissing. She showed it to everyone at
the table as Faith began to cover her face with her hand.
Darren came up behind her and realized what happened. He grabbed the camera out
of Spaz’s hand and gave it back to Faith. She pulled the tape out of it and
put it in her pocket. He began walking away towards the lobby. Faith gave Spaz
an evil glare and began to run off after him.
“I’m so sorry about that. I had no idea that Spaz would catch us. If only I
had known…” Faith began.
“Don’t worry about it. I should have stopped before it got to the point
where we were making out. I’m sorry,” Darren replied.
“I should be the sorry one, and I am. I didn’t mean for things to get so out
of hand the first night of the tour,” she kept apologizing as he started to
walk off again.
“I’m going upstairs. See you tomorrow,” he quietly said as he headed for
the stairs, not daring to look back.
Faith watched him go with hurt eyes. ‘Good one, stupid. You really let
yourself go too far,’ her conscious retorted. ‘Go to your room and forget
that it even happened. If you’re lucky, he’ll start speaking to you again by
the end of the tour.’ With her head hung low, she wandered to the elevator and
pressed the up button. Maybe a few drinks in private would help her out.
Chapter 1: The B96 Summer Bash
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