This is the first chapter to the sequel of "Nobody's Perfect." I think technically, you could read it alone, but you shouldn't. So, if you haven't, back on up and find my other story.:) It's a good read. And for those of you who were disappointed, here's where I attempt to redeem myself. Read on.
"And now for a throwback from our first album!" I spoke loudly into the microphone. "Most of you will remember this one…I hope!" I paused for a moment, and the crowd erupted into cheers immediately. I waited a minute for them to calm down so I knew that they'd hear me. "We are A Beautiful Disaster, and this is 'Love The Way You Lie!'"
This was one of our rougher songs, a gamble we took on our first album. With all the curse words that were in this song, and just this song, we'd been pushing the envelope. And it's paid off. I opened up the song.
'Just gonna stand there and watch me burn,
But that's all right, because I like the way it hurts.
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry,
But that's all right, because I love the way you lie,
I love the way you lie.'
And Oliver stepped up, his beautiful red Gibson hanging behind his back off of a black strap. He wrapped his hands around the mic, putting his heart into the words.
'I can't tell you what it really is.
I can only tell you what it feels like.
And right now, it's a steel knife in my windpipe.
I can't breathe, but I still fight while I can fight.
As long as the wrong feels right it's like I'm in flight.
High off her love, drunk from my hate, it's like I'm huffin' paint.
And I love it, the more I suffer, I suffocate.
And right before I'm about to drown, she resuscitates me,
She fuckin' hates me, and I love it.
"Wait, where you goin'?"
"I'm leavin' you!"
"No you ain't! Come back!"
We're runnin' right back, here we go again!
It's so insane, cause when it's goin' good, it's goin' great.
I'm Superman with the wind at his back, she's Lois Lane.
But when it's bad it's awful, I feel so ashamed.
I snap, "Who's that dude? I don't even know his name."
I laid hands on her, I'll never stoop so low again.
I guess I don't know my own strength.'
And I stepped back in.
'Just gonna stand there and watch me burn,
But that's all right, because I like the way it hurts.
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry,
But that's all right, because I love the way you lie,
I love the way you lie.
I love the way you lie.'
And Oliver
'You ever love somebody so much, you can barely breathe.
When you with 'em you meet, and neither one of you even know what hit 'em.
Got that warm fuzzy feeling, yeah them chills used to get 'em.
Now you're getting fuckin' sick of lookin' at 'em.
You swore you'd never hit 'em, never do nothin' to hurt 'em.
Now you're in each other's face, spewin' venom in your words when you spit 'em.
You push pull each other's hair, scratch claw,
Hit 'em, throw 'em down, pin 'em, so lost in the moments when you're in 'em.
It's the rage that's the culprit, controls you both.
So they say it's best to go your separate ways.
Guess that they don't know ya, 'cause today, that was yesterday.
Yesterday is over, it's a different day.
Sound like broken records playin' over,
But you promised her, next time you'll show restraint
You don't get another chance.
Life is no Nintendo game, but you lied again.
Now you get to watch her leave out the window.
Guess that's why they call it window pane.'
My Chorus
'Just gonna stand there and watch me burn,
But that's all right, because I like the way it hurts.
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry,
But that's all right, because I love the way you lie,
I love the way you lie.
I love the way you lie.'
And Matt took the last verse, rapping it over the top of his keyboard.
'Now I know we said things, did things, that we didn't mean.
And we fall back into the same patterns, same routine.
But your temper's just as bad as mine is, you're the same as me.
When it comes to love you're just as blinded.
Baby please come back! It wasn't you, baby, it was me!
Maybe our relationship isn't as crazy as it seems.
Maybe that's what happens when a tornado meets a volcano.
All I know is I love you too much, to walk away though.
Come inside, pick up the bags off the sidewalk!
Don't you hear sincerity in my voice when I talk?
Told you this is my fault, look me in the eyeball!
Next time I'm pissed I'll aim my fist at the dry wall!
Next time? There won't be no next time!
I apologize, even though I know it's lies!
I'm tired of the games! I just want her back! I know I'm a liar!
If she ever tries to fuckin' leave again,
I'ma tie her to the bed and set this house on fire!
Just gonna'
And I took the last chorus, the last part of the song.
'Just gonna stand there and watch me burn,
But that's all right, because I like the way it hurts.
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry,
But that's all right, because I love the way you lie,
I love the way you lie.
I love the way you lie...'
The last notes of the music and my voice faded away, and there was silence for a moment, except for me gasping for breath. And then the crowd erupted into cheers again as the lights came up. I felt the rush I always get from performing building to up, and the boys came forward and we all linked hands and bowed. I took the pick I'd used for that show, pulled a permanent marker from my pocket, wrote my initials on it and threw it as far into the crowd as I could, like I did after every show. The cheering got louder, and we all waved one last time before running off the stage as the curtain dropped.
"That was awesome! Why can't we play in New York more often!" Jackson shouted. After every show you can do nothing more than shout for a while. The adrenaline, the noise, they all make you shout for hours.
"We'll see what we can do buddy!" Jake threw his arm around Jackson, hanging off of him almost like he was drunk. They laughed loudly for no reason, riding the high. It made me happy to see them happy.
I handed my guitar off to Jerry, the crew guy who cares for my guitar. Two years, and I was still using the same one I'd used in high school, signed by Kevin Jonas. A black Gibson Les Paul with little yellow JB symbols all over it, that Kevin had signed for me in silver sharpie once, years ago. The only thing that was different about it was the newest signature, right below the old one. I'd had the pleasure of meeting Kevin last year, when we were really hitting our stride, and he had told me he was a fan of our music. I'd signed his copy of the cd, and he'd signed my guitar…again. That was the kind of history you were careful with, so Jerry was the only one who took care of my guitar between shows, the only guy I'd let tune it. "Hey Jerry! The usual?"
"Wash and wax?" It was a joke we'd come up with when he decided I was obsessed with my guitar. "Coming right up Ma'am!" I laughed, and two arms wrapped around me from behind.
"You did a great job baby!" Sarah released her death grip on me, satisfied with taking my hand.
I smiled, kissing her quickly. "We did do great, didn't we?"
"Y'all sure did." Mr. Stewart walked up to us, clapping Jackson on the shoulder. "You guys amaze me every time y'all get on the stage." We'd had the choice of letting Mr. Stewart leave once Jackson and I were eighteen, but no agent in the world could have known us better, no manager have been closer to us. We hired him as our full time manager, and when he asked us for an assistant, we hired one of those for him too. Speaking of his assistant, there she was, coming right out of the shadows.
"You guys did fantastic." She spoke in her quiet voice. She was very well put together, always looking fresh and wide awake, even when late nights bled into early mornings. "Now, we need to hurry up and go, the bus needs to leave in less than an hour to be on track and beat traffic." She ushered us to the back doors, where our body gaurds and stadium security was waiting to usher us to the buses, which I could see just over the crowd gathered.
"We don't need to leave for an hour right?" I asked Kate, the assistant.
"Uh…well..technically speaking…" She seemed unsure, and I took advantage of that hesitation.
"Guys, how bout we sign some autographs?" I said loudly. The crowd cheered, and Big Rob, our bodyguard, passed out the permanent markers to everybody else in the band, and we immediately dispersed, separating to sign as many things as we could for all the people in the crowd. Sarah kept a hand on the back of my shirt, making sure we didn't get separated. "Hi, how are you?" I asked a girl who was close to the white fence that was alone keeping us from the crowd. Well, that and the security lining the fence every few feet.
The girl didn't answer, just looked like she was going to cry. She held a copy of our newest cd, 'The Steps We All Take,' out to me, so I took it and signed it. I handed it back to her. "Uh, can I get a picture please?" She held out her camera, and I smiled.
"I don't see why not. Sarah?" I handed the camera to Sarah, and leaned over the fence, putting my arm around the girl, who looked like she was going to faint. Sarah snapped the picture and handed the camera back to the girl, who at this point, had begun to cry. "Nice to meet you!" I cried, moving on to the next fan, and the next fan, and the next one after that, taking an endless amount of pictures, having videos recorded of me, and signing cds, t-shirts, faces, babies…well not babies, though that has happened before. I had the fans who wrapped around me and didn't want to let go, the criers, the screamers, just fans. Finally, I realized the boys were filing past me, and Kate caught me on the arm.
"Come on Lilly, it's time to go. We're really pushing it now!" We hustled to the front bus, which the band and Sarah rode on, while Mr. Stewart, Kate, and Rob got onto another bus. The crew had already loaded our gear up into the trailer, which was attached to the back of the bus they rode on. Most bands travel on private jets and such, but our band doesn't even own one. And none of us individually do either. We'd joined a go green campaign, and even though our solution wasn't perfect, taking buses was a lot more fuel efficient that flying everywhere. Sarah jumped on the bus first, and the rest of us hung off for a bit, making our last goodbyes and waves to the crowd, before piling on.
"That was so good." I said to the boys, as we slid into the booth around the table. Sarah leaned up against me, and I draped my arm over her shoulder. Jackson and Jake sat down across from us, while Oliver sat in the passenger seat next to Tom, the driver, and Oliver went in back.
"Where's Oliver going?" I asked curiously.
"Calling his girlfriend." Jake laughed back.
"His girlfriend?" I laughed.
"Yeah. You remember that fan from Texas?" Sarah laughed. "They talk all the time. He texts her between shows."
I laughed. "Our little Ollie is growing up!" We all laughed.
"Hey Kids, there's some food for you all. We sent somebody out to McDonald's. All your favorites are in the cupboards." Tom said from the front. Jake stood up, opening the cupboards and pulling out six bags of McDonald's food and setting them on the table. We all pawed through them, looking for what we knew was ours.
"Where's my Big Mac?" Oliver said, coming out of the back curtain into the kitchen area.
"What?" Matt called from the front, "Shouldn't you be big macking on your fangirl?"
We all burst out laughing, as Oliver turned bright red. We ate and laughed together, making more jokes at Oliver's expense. As the hands on the clock slowly crept closer to two, I yawned. "Well boys, I'm gonna hit the sack. I'm exhausted." I slid out of the booth, pulling Sarah with me. "We'll see you in the AM."
"Night girls," They all echoed in one way or another. I pulled back the curtain just past the bathroom, which opened into the area where the bunk beds were. There were eight beds, four on each side of the bus.
There was another curtain past last bunk beds, which, when pulled back, showed a kind of lounge, in the back, where there's seating against one wall, a tv against the other, and some storage cupboards against the back wall. I went to the two bunk beds that were Sarah and I's, and opened the left drawer underneath the bottom bunk, which contained my clothes, while Sarah opened the right one. We both changed, and slid together into the bottom bunk, sliding the mini curtain closed, so we were shut into the dark. The bed wasn't huge, but it wasn't as small as you'd think, either, so there was just enough room for the two of us. She put her arm under my shirt, right on my stomach, and I pulled the blanket over the two of us. She gave a content sigh, and I pulled her closer, letting the steady turn of the wheels underneath me lull me to sleep.
Let me know what you thought, my dear readers. Pretty please?