echelon92

Alex and Jack's stage banter was almost cringe-worthy, but the thirteen year old super-fans in the pulsing crowd completely ate up every awkward detail the two giggled over. The boys rarely included anyone but themselves in the little act, but tonight they had two very special guests, Gabe and I.

Up until I was ambushed mid-set I'd only been an onlooker, but right after their fifth song, Six Feet Under The Stars, I found myself quickly pulled onstage by my older brother after a less than subtle wave from Alex.

I managed to squeak, "What the fuck!" before the bright lights were pointed directly at me.

"Everyone, you know Gabe!" Alex shouted into the microphone amid a loud rush of screams, "But, this little lady is Gabe's sister, Daniella! Now, everyone, say, hello, Daniella!"

The excited crowd roared back a loud hello before laughing at my quick wave. This was mortifying. "Jackass."I glared in the lead singers direction.

"Lil' Sis has a big dilema," Jack added, grinning from ear to ear, as were Alex and Gabe while Zack and Rian watched on, smirks plastered to their sweaty features, "And me, Gabe, and Alex have come up with a fuckin' awesome solution."

"You see, folks, Daniella's best friend was supposed to go to prom with her..." Alex began, swiftly pulling the mic from it's stand and coming to my side, wrapping his sweat drenched body around mine while he explained how Allison had ditched me that night, and decided that going to prom with Marshall Tucker was a far better idea than going with me. "And now that we all know about her shitty problem, let's hear what Mister Saporta's got to say!"

And from there Gabe took the mic from Alex hand and waited while the crowd of young girls screamed, he lived for this, "Like Jack said, Alex, he, and I have come up with a better option. Why not take a special guest to prom, right, D?"

Instantly it all clicked and I groaned, "Yeah, G." I sighed.

"So, we thought you could take Alex to your prom. I mean, he's a good dancer, obviously, he's fuckin' hot, and you will be the envy of every girl there." Gabe smiled over at me before patting Alex's shoulder, "What do you guys think?"

After he asked the crowd the entire room filled with shrill screams while everyone on stage and off stared me down, waiting for my reply. "Come on, Ella, what do you say?" Alex asked, a sweet smile graced his lips and he leaned down to look directly in my eyes, "Will you go to prom with me?"

It was bad enough that my best friend chose a stupid guy over me for the biggest dance of the year, and what could have been one of the funnest nights of her life, but having to stand infront of two thousand people and have them learn all the little details of it was bad. But still worse was having to answer Alex Gaskarth's prom invitation infront of those thousands of people.

With the crowd beginning to chant yes as well as Gabe, Jack, Rian, and Zack all joining in I groaned, "Fuck you guys," before flashing the crowd a big smile and nodding, "Yes." I said quickly into the mic that had been pressed to my lips.

"Yes! I get to go to prom!" Alex obnoxiously cheered, clapping his hands before hugging me quickly, "Everybody say thanks, Ella!"

And with the crowd laughing and shouting I walked off stage, my older brother right behind me.

"I did not deserve that." I stated while slumping down against the wall behind me, "You guys are fuckin' douche bags." I glared, it was probably extremely childish of me, but I crossed my arms and stared ahead while Jack tripped over his feet and fell face first onto the ground.

"You know you're excited." Gabe grinned down at me, ruffling my hair a second later and hugging me the next, "It'll be fun, I swear."

Fun wasn't the word I was looking for, interesting summed it up just a little better. I could only stick my tongue out before I was distracted by the boys on stage.

But all I could think about was that I was going to prom with Alex, Allison was going to murder me, and so would every other thirteen year old girl in the country. True, Alex was attractive, and he was funny, not to mention he was talented, the guy could sing, but it just seemed too strange to even think about having a crush on one of my brothers friends. It was cliche, too.

The set went on for another twenty minutes before they played their final song and said their goodbyes to the mass of fans. Gabe and I got out of the way while people immediately began bustling around the stage, things were being put back in boxes and fans began to filter out the doors.

"Come on, we'll meet em' in the back." my older brother nudged my shoulder towards the small set of steps. I only nodded before hastilly making my way towards the small dressing room the guys had for the night.

We ended up waiting around for a good half hour before anyone even entered the room, and even then it was Matt, their tour manager. "They're outside with fans, Jack just wanted me to let you guys know." he nodded before leaving again.

"Well atleast we know they weren't kidnapped." I sighed with obvious sarcasm before pulling my phone from my pocket and sending Allison a message, You missed out on an interesting night, loser.

Surprisingly, her reply didn't come, even after another twenty minutes of silent waiting.

"I'm kind of hungry." I looked up at Gabe and rubbed my stomach as it rumbled. My brothers brown eyes narrowed and his nose wrinkled, but he sent a bag of Cheeto's flying my way. "I don't like Cheetos."

"Well, you'll eat them if you're hungry." was all he said before exiting the room, leaving me alone in the dingy, sweat-soaked room.

I knew that the life I led was far from normal, only when Gabe was home, that is. The rest of the year I was stuck at home or wandering around with my best friend while we lived our mundane lives, but the moment Gabe came back life was turned upside down. And even though I acted like I hated it, I loved it when he came home, because everything I had to worry about seemed to disappear while I spent as much time with him as I could.

My fingers were coated in orange powder by the time the group of five boys passed through the door, all looking equally tired. "Can we get real food, these are beginning to make me sick."

Jack looked over from his phone and glared, "Thanks for stealing my Cheetos, Ella."

I bit my lip at his use of Ella, "Well, Jackie, Gabe gave them to me 'cause I was starving." I replied, crinkling the bag up as tightly as possible before setting it on the dresser beside me, "Besides, you girls were taking so long out there I was about to die of starvation."

Jack mocked my statement while he untied his shoes and took off his socks, "Time to leave." Gabe announced.

"Aww, no fair, it was just getting good." I whined as I stood up and gathered my few things I'd brought, "See you later, guys."

 "Whoa, you can't leve that fast!" Jack exclaimed, dashing from his place on the couch to blocking the door, "You haven't given me the deets."

I merely raised an eyebrow while the taller boy fumbled through a nearby backpack, retrieving a phone and handing it to me. "I don't give mine away, you could be a creeper." he stated.

"Yeah," I snorted. I navigated through his iPhone and entered my name, as well as phone number and a picture of myself before handing it back and smiling, "There, now you can stalk me and I won't have any idea who it is."

My new friend laughed to himself before enveloping me in a sweaty, smelly hug. "Yeah, I'll see you later, D, peace." Jack said quickly before hurrying off the the shower, cheering at the fact that he'd gotten to it first.

The rest of the guys began to say their goodbyes, wishing us both well before going on to whatever it was they'd been doing. However, Alex follwed Gabe and I out to the back of the venue where we'd parked, waving to a small group of girls waiting near by before turning to me and smiling widely, "I can't wait for prom."

I let out a deep groan before burying my face in my cold hands, "I'm still not happy about his at all." I told the two before stepping back, realizing I was surprisingly tired. I guess after a day of trying to keep a group of hyperactive twenty-somethings was taking it's toll.

"Oh, shut up." my brother groaned, "We all know you wanted to go to prom. We all know."

Rolling my eyes was my only reaction, "Whatever, but I'm not spending any money on anything. I didn't want to go, you're forcing me."

Gabe and I were far more alike than I was comfortable with, for he only rolled his eyes before turning to Alex and beginning to try and lay out some sort of plan for the big dance while I pulled out my phone and read my new message. At least Allison was getting around to me now.

I'm sure I did. But, I also had a fantastic night.

Of course it had been, I though, she'd spent it with Marshy. I found myself rolling my eyes at the thought of the two together, "Shit..." I muttered with a light chuckle, now I knew how she'd felt when I was with Evan.

I thought of Marshall the way she'd thought of my ex, he wasn't worth a minute of her time, just like Evan hadn't been. Instead of texting her a sarcastic reply I called her, the phone only rang once before she picked up. "I don't like Marshall the way you didn't like Evan."

Both of the boys before me turned to stare at me after my strange outburst but returned to their planning when they noticed the phone pressed against my ear. Allison, on the other hand, snorted, "I highly doubt that, Evan was the biggest a-hole on the planet and Marshall is the sweetest no-hole ever."

Even though we were more alike than two people should be, we never agreed when it came to guys. We both seemed to have the same taste in men though, they were never the 'right' guy for us, but we never saw it. "Whatever," I muttered quietly, knowing I wasn't going to win the battle, "Oh, I'd like you to talk to someone."

Thankfully, Gabe and Alex were finished, for now, with their planning, so I handed my phone over to my prom date and leaned back against the wall.

He grinned the entire time he was on the phone with her, I could only imagine she was smiling like an idiot as well. Gabe and I listened intently to Alex's side of the conversations, a lot of 'yeah's and 'uh-huh's were said on his part, as well as, "Yeah, I asked to to prom on stage."

 Alex only talked to her for a few minutes longer before handing the phone back to me, though he'd already hung up. "She said she hates you and doesn't want to see you ever again." he nodded casually before returning to talking with Gabe.

I merely rolled my eyes, she told me this often. I sent her a quick message, telling her I loved her and goodnight before setting my phone on silent.

Hey, guys :]

I know, it's been about three/four weeks, right? Well, I'm sorry :/ I hate school so much, specifically Algebra II Honors, that class sucks. I'm not the best with math, but I didn't think I was that bad! I got a 61% for the first quarter, go me. Anyway, I've been swamped with homework, but I truly have been trying to write! I love writing, it lets me escape from everything, but I haven't been able to lately. Gah, so stressed, but yea, this is up :]

Hopefully you'll get something soon? I am definitely not promising anything, but maybe? Haha, thanks guys!