October 29th, 2010

Jiiiiiimmy!,

Ethan was right. The entire week after the concert, the only thing I could think about was that night. One minute, I'm trying to focus on a teacher lecturing, the next I'm back in Newark, riding a cart down the hotel hallway. During Psychology, I would glance over at Ethan and notice he was having another Muse daydream.

During Halloween, the school allows us to wear costumes during class. Since the holiday fell on a Sunday this year, Costume Day was pushed to today. All week I tried to get Ethan interested in wearing a costume, but he would push off the idea.

"It's just not my thing", he sighed after I had pestered him for the tenth time.

Well, I wasn't going to let Ethan's lack of holiday spirit bring me down! This morning, I put on yellow skinny jeans, a black button-down shirt, sunglasses, and Converse. To complete the look, I put on a short, blond wig. I walked into the kitchen, where Kevin was eating cereal while wearing a helmet from the Halo videogame.

"What do you think?" I asked, readjusting my wig.

"What are you supposed to be?" he said, "A blond Justin Beiber?"

I gaped at him. "No! Dom Howard from Muse, see?" I took out my drumsticks.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "That was supposed to be a joke!" he commented, walking past me out of the kitchen.

"You never answered my question!"

The parking lot of Charlesburg High was filled with goblins and witches galore. Some people went all out with their costumes while some, like my brother, put no effort in.

I bet Ethan feels out of place now!

"Well, this is awkward" I heard Ethan say from behind me. Smiling, I turned around and gasped. It turns out that Ethan did wear a costume. He was wearing all black with a red Dior jacket on top. Strapped around him was a REAL Glitterati Manson.

"Holy Bellamy!" I said, admiring the guitar.

"I decided to use my genetics to my advantage and dress up like my brother!" Ethan said. "Do you like it? I was afraid my jacket wasn't going to fit. I've gotten chubby since I last wore it.

I snorted at that comment. Ethan is thinner than a twig, but he makes it work.

"And you just happened to have a Manson lying around?" I chuckled.

Ethan grinned. "Last year's Christmas present", he replied.

"Well Mr. Bellamy!" I said, pulling him closer, "I think you look absolutely pwoper! If I didn't know any better, I would think you were the real Matt!"

"What if I am?" he asked, doing an eerily accurate impression of Matt's voice.

"Then Ethan better not be around to see this!" I said, kissing him fiercely

"I always knew you had a thing for my brother", Ethan said, pretending to be mad.

"Noooo, you idiot!" I said, doing my best Dom impression. "You know you're the only one for me."

Ethan smiled. "That's good to hear. I feel the same about you. And may I add that you are the best looking drummer I have ever seen!"

I looked at the both of us. "We should send a picture to the boys!" I laughed, taking out my camera.

"Matt and Dom are going to flip" Ethan chuckled. "They know about 'BellDom' so this will just be the icing on the cake. They'll probably say that we planned this."

"They can make their own assumptions", I said, quoting Matt from earlier in the week. We put on our best lovey-dovey faces and took a few pictures.

"I think that is sufficient to creep them out for the rest of their lives", Ethan said, observing the photos.

"Wow, we really look like them in this one, except for the fact that you're nibbling my ear", I giggled.

"Do you want me to do that again?" he asked, pulling me close. I squealed in surprise. Suddenly, there was a flash of light next to us. Looking over, we saw a short, middle-aged man with a camera, trying to hide behind a truck.

"Oi!" Ethan shouted, "You can't just come onto school property and stalk students!"

The man scowled, and then snapped another picture of us before running off.

"That was weird", I muttered, "Maybe we should tell the school police about that.."

Something was not right. I noticed a few students staring at us, some of them taking out their phones to snap pictures. Ethan looked pissed.

"Um, what's going on?" I asked nervously as I could hear a few girls mutter our names.

"Just follow me and don't look at anyone", Ethan said quickly, "We need to get inside."

Focusing on Ethan's back, I followed Ethan quickly to the school building. Even more people were staring at us as we entered. I heard Ethan curse quietly and say, "I can't believe this is happening again!"

"Ethan, will you please tell me what's…" I was interrupted again by another voice.

"Samantha, Ethan, will the two of you please step inside my office?" someone demanded. A chill ran down my spine as I turned around and saw the stern face of Dr. Cunningham staring at the two of us and holding open the door to her office.

Oh my goodness what have I done?

I tried to remember anything bad I have done that would require a meeting with the principal. Nothing. Was skipping school on Monday to recover from the concert really that bad?

Ethan and I quickly walked into the office and sat down. Dr. Cunningham strode over to her desk and sighed deeply, looking at a pile of magazines stacked on it. I glanced at them and noticed they all had pictures of me, Ethan, and Muse from Sunday night.

I read some of the headlines. "Bellamy Brothers party in Newark", "Ethan Bellamy found in the States", "Mystery girl spotted with Muse". Ethan glared angrily at the magazines, as if he wanted them to burst into flames.

"Imagine my surprise when I walk into a gas station this morning and I find these next to the cashier", the principal said, gesturing to the pile. She looked at Ethan. "For someone who told me he didn't want his celebrity status revealed, you do a poor job of hiding it."

"Do you think I wanted this?" Ethan hissed, holding up a magazine with a large picture of me and Ethan kissing on the hotel balcony. "I came here to avoid my twisted celebrity persona in England. People only liked me because I am 'Matt's brother'". He scoffed at the title and tossed the magazine back on the desk. "Think about some celebrities you guys have here. Although it doesn't happen that often, their siblings get famous, even if they do absolutely nothing!" He groaned and leaned back in the chair.

I watched him. It seemed that Ethan being Matt's brother was both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, he gets to hang out with one of the biggest bands on the planet, the other, he was unwillingly thrown into the spotlight.

"What are we going to do?" I said, mostly to myself.

"It's a little too late now", said Dr. Cunningham to Ethan, "The tabloids know you're here and they will constantly follow you around. You can try talking to your foreign exchange program to get a school change, but since these things are national, someone is bound to recognize you again."

Ethan shook his head and looked over at me. "I'm not going anywhere", he sighed, the answer directed to me. "I'm so sorry I brought this fiasco into your life."

I smiled and squeezed his hand. "Everyone has some baggage", I joked, "It'll all get better soon."

Dr. Cunningham coughed loudly to get our attention again. "Since you are staying, I will remind the both of you to not abuse your newfound celebrity status. You both have some of the best grades in this school, and you will continue to do so in an honest manner. I do not want to hear about you getting 'special treatment' from others. Understood?"

We both nodded. "Yes ma'am", we replied. I looked over at the magazines. "Do you mind if I take those?" I asked politely.

Ethan and Dr. Cunningham looked startled. "Go right ahead", she said, "Although I'm not sure why you would want those. They belong in the trash."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of these", I replied, grabbing the magazines and walking out of the office.

Ethan followed after mine. "What exactly are you planning on doing with those?" he asked.

We both stopped in front of a trash can. One by one, I ripped up a magazine and threw the pieces in the bin. Once I was finished, I took a half-empty bottle of Gatorade I had in my backpack and emptied it inside the garbage.

"Dr. Cunningham did say these belonged in the trash", I said, turning to Ethan.

Ethan smiled and hugged me. "That's my drummer!" he chuckled.

The rest of the day could be defined in one word: awkward. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, and I know it wasn't due to my costume. The teachers behaved a bit better, but I noticed they acted different around me. For example, during Anatomy, "Uprising" started to play from the radio and Mr. Caprelli shot a glance at me. I tried to ignore his stares and continued to focus on labeling a skeleton.

Luckily, my friends were good-natured about the whole ordeal. They asked us questions about meeting Muse during lunch, but they knew when enough was enough and we soon moved on to other topics.

When I got back home, I decided to email Matt the pictures that Ethan and I took this morning. Only ten minutes after I sent the email, my phone rang. Smiling at the Caller ID, I pressed "Answer" and innocently said, "Why, hello Matt!"

"Do the two of you sit around and plan how to psychologically scar me?" Matt grumbled, Chris and Tom's loud laughter in the background.

"Matt!" I heard Chris yell, "I never knew you and Dom were so affectionate with each other!"

I laughed along with them. "How is Dom reacting?" I asked.

"He probably went to burn those yellow skinny jeans after seeing that picture of Ethan grabbing your arse", replied Matt, a chuckle in his voice. "You have just made things very awkward in the Muse tour bus."

"Have you seen the tabloids yet?" I said, changing the subject.

Matt sighed. "Yes, unfortunately. A few paparazzi followed us around New Orleans today, asking about you two. I simply said we had a festival to prepare for and promptly flipped them off."

"You know that is the type of reaction those people want to get from you right? The press can turn you into the worst person in the world even if you are just a guy who likes too much syrup on his waffles."

Matt laughed. "I do not care how the world sees me. As long as the people I care about the most know the real me, I am happy."

"I just wished people would treat us the same", I sighed. "Everywhere I went, someone was whispering or pointing or taking a picture of me! I was ready to yell at them."

"That's the price of being famous", Matt said. "Just have some patience, do not do anything dramatic, and try to enjoy yourself. Hopefully they will lose interest and treat you normally again."

I smiled. "Thanks Matt. I hope you guys have an awesome final show tonight at Voodoo!"

"Any suggestions on what we should play?"

I thought about it for a minute. "Anything except 'Guiding Light'!"

Matt gasped. "Now that is just mean!"