I leaned back in the comfortable airplane seat and looked out the window. We were still on the ground and a knot was forming in my stomach, slowly wearing away at my nerves. I could handle this…I always wanted to ride a plane. Everything was going well. I had a contract with Scooter Braun…I was going to England to join some British band Scooter was working with called The Wanted on tour. This was a good thing. He even said one of them, Nathan I think, was close to my age…three and a half years older than me. I guess it was supposed to make me feel better when he told me the guy was a very handsome young man…19 was a man? I was 16 and I'd met some 19 year old seniors who I wouldn't call a man if my life depended on it. My mom sat behind me, braiding and unbraiding my hair. "Momma, do you mind?" I asked, attempting to swat away her hand.
"Sorry Bree…" she said as she pulled her hands back, "Are you excited about meeting that young boy band? You think you might like that cute Nathan guy? Have you seen his picture? He is very cute," she said, holding her phone up to the side of my face.
"Not really. I doubt I'll like him and no I haven't seen his picture. Now mom, can you just calm down and stop talking. I'm nervous and would really like to keep my nails from being embedded in my seat," I said as the plane started to rise. I unwrapped a blow pop and tentatively licked it. We would be in England in a matter of hours and I would be spending months of alone time with a band I knew nothing about. My mom would be saying goodbye at the airport and would hand me over to some woman named Jayne. To say the least I was scared out of my mind. Atlanta, Georgia couldn't have seemed farther away.
I took a deep breath as I watched my mom leave me at the airport and felt small underneath the weight of Jayne's arm on my shoulder. She looked down at me and I forced a smile. "It's lovely to meet you Bree. Are you ready to go? The boys want to meet you."
"Are they in the car?" I asked quickly.
"Oh no. They're at the hotel preparing some sort of…gift…for you," she replied and I nervously followed her to the hummer waiting outside. When we climbed into the car I honestly felt the air leave my body. An ice chest sat in the middle of the driver's seat and the passenger's seat. I accepted a diet coke from Jayne and sipped on it all the way to the hotel.
The hotel was really big and Jayne informed me it was just temporary. In a week we'd be heading to the boy's permanent home. I pretended THAT didnt intemidate me as we rode the elevator up to the Pent house suite. Jayne knocked on the door and a boy with light brown hair with cool fringe bangs and blue-green eyes appeared. "Oh, hey Jayne. You must be Bree. Pleasure to meet you," he said gesturing us inside, "I'm Nathan by the way."
"Oh, the pleasure is all mine," I grinned but didn't pay attention as I rammed into someone. A tall man with dark hair and remarkable cheek bones steadied me. "Oh! I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going," I apologized.
"No problem sweetie. You must be the lovely Bree. We've all been looking forward to seeing you," he motioned to three other guys sitting around the living room. "This is Max, Jay, and Tom. I'm Siva." I smiled and waved before turning to Jayne.
"Where would you like me to put my stuff?" I asked, hitching my two bags farther onto my shoulders and holding onto my suitcase handle.
"Oh...Nath, be a dear and help Bree carry her stuff to her room," Jayne said. Nathan walked over and held his hand out. When I stared at it he made a 'gimme gimme' motion and I reluctantly slid my bags off my shoulders.
"C'mon. Hand it over," he smiled and took my bags. I followed him through the apartment until we reached a door at the far end. He managed to open it and entered. "It's a pretty BA room. You have a balcony that overlooks the beach." It took me a second to realize he was speaking to me. "Bree..." My head snapped around and I smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry. I get side-tracked super easy," I explained.
"Same here," he said, laying my stuff out onto my bed.