Chapter 11

Chapter 11

(Ned’s POV)

So it’s been about 2 months now since I saw Erica. I might have been a little more forceful than I wanted to be with her, but I know that she enjoyed the night as much as I did. She was in tears it was so enjoyable. I left my job at Abercrombie & Fitch and now work for my uncle. He works at a music label and he asked me to help with this new up and coming band they had just signed. Their name was Honor Society and it turned out they were from New York and were all seniors at St. Claude’s. I know that’s the school Erica goes to. I wonder if they know her. Maybe if they do, they can hook me up so I can hang out with her again and do a repeat of that night 2 months ago. I am finally meeting them today. I am excited to meet all of them. They are doing a smaller tour around NYC and Long Island in a few weeks just at local bars and pizza places to get some of a fan base. I am supposed to meet the guys at Starbucks in 15 minutes, so I need to run and catch the subway. I finally make it and see them all sitting around a table.

“Hello, are you guys Honor Society?” I asked hesitantly.

“Yeah that’s us” One of them said energetically. “Are you our new manager Ned?”

“Indeed I am. It’s great to meet you all! So who’s who?”

“Well I’m Alex. I am the drummer.”

“I’m Mike. The lead singer and I play guitar.”

“I’m Jason. I play keyboards, guitar, and sing some.”

“Oh awesome, multi-faceted! And you are?” I turned to the tall blonde but I don’t think he is going to answer me. He was giving me the death glare.

“I’m Andrew. I play bass and sing.” He answered coldly. If looks could kill, damn I don’t think any part of my body would be around anymore. I wonder what I did to have him hate me already.

“Well, uh, hello Andrew.” I answered. I walked away from him and decided to sit down near Mike instead of Andrew. I feared for my life if I stood anywhere near him. “Well, I’m going to get some coffee and then we can talk some.” I start to walk away and I can hear them begin to argue about something. I walk back in time to catch the end of the conversation.

“If he’s our manager, you are losing your bassist.” I heard Andrew say red-faced to Mike.

“Come on man, give it up, everything will be okay.”

“No it won’t. I do not want to be around him.” He got up and walked out of the shop. He did that death stare to me again. What did I do?

“Did I do something wrong?” I asked Jason.

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong. Andrew is just making assumptions and you know what happens when you assume. You make an ass out of you and me. So he’s just making an ass out of himself. He’ll be back.”

“Oh, alright.” I responded. The rest of us sat and talked for about an hour getting to know about each other. I still though Andrew’s behavior was different. We’ll figure it out at rehearsal later today. He has to be there.

(Erica’s POV)

Andrew called me in a rage.

“Are you home? I need to see you and talk.” He said angrily to me. I wasn’t sure if he was mad at me or something else. I told him yes and he said he’d be there in about 15 minutes. 30 have passed already and he is still not here. I am really worried about him. I’ve never seen him angry before and I do not know what to expect in any way. I finally heard loud knocking on my door. It’s a good thing I was right there because I thought he would have broken down the door if I waited any longer. Andrew stormed into my house. His face was beet-red and if he could blow smoke, I think he would have.

“Andrew, what’s the matter?” I asked. I was completely confused as to why he was so angry. He didn’t really answer me just sort of muttered to himself.

“That jerk, jackass, what does he think coming around me?”

“What are you talking about? Who’s a jerk? Andrew.” He still didn’t answer me. Finally I took his face in my hands and placed my lips upon his. I could feel himself relax and I asked again. “Andrew, what is the matter?”

“That jerk is back. The one who hurt you. He’s going to be in our lives again.” He answered through clenched teeth. I saw his fists tighten and his knuckles turn white as he said this to me.

“What jerk? Landon? Andrew, he’s gone. He isn’t even allowed near me. We can call the police and they can deal with it.” I said going towards him and rubbing his back.

“No, not that one. The one that almost broke us apart. The one who hurt you. The one who I want to kill. I cannot believe that Mr. Jonas is related to him. Such a nice guy is related to such a jerk.” The realization of who it was made my face go pale. My stomach began to turn and I could feel myself becoming nauseous. I hadn’t heard from Ned for two months, since that one night where he forced himself on me.
“Wait, how did he come back into our lives though.” I asked. I didn’t want him anywhere near me, but how did he enter my life again.

“He’s our manager. Mr. Jonas wanted to hire someone who he felt was around our age, but he never said he was hiring such a jackass.” I had to agree with him. In the past 2 months, Andrew and his friends went from just a high school band who rehearsed in Jason’s basement to now a band who was working on a record. Mr. Jonas was the nicest man you would ever meet. He was always willing to help anyone and had an eye for raw talent. I could tell that the guys had taken a liking to Mr. Jonas and they would do wonderfully because of what he has provided or them but the fact that Ned will be a part of it, I do not like.

“Baby, we can make it through this. We made it through it before and we’ve made it through the whole Jessica fiasco. We’ve been together for 2 amazing months with a lot more to go. Just because he is back doesn’t mean we have to stop being together.”

His eyes bulged out of his head. I think I interrupted what he was saying. “I don’t want to break up with you, but I do want to quit the band. There is no way I can tour with that man on the same bus specifically in the next bunk with me. I would be in jail afterwards for strangling him.” I couldn’t help but laugh at that. Andrew was as dangerous as a butterfly. He had no mean bone in his body.

“Baby, this is the first time I’ve ever seen you this mad, but I know you will calm down. Firstly, you would not strangle him. You are a bigger person than that. Secondly, we made it through the Jessica fiasco; we can make it through this. I know that you will be okay. Don’t let one idiot stop you from pursuing your dreams. I will be by your side every step of the way.” I leaned in and kissed him. I could tell he wasn’t going to quit the band. He was going to stay with them and as long as I am near him, we will be able to get through this interesting twist in our love story.

We ended up getting a little carried away with our kisses and 30 minutes later we were on top of each other in a full out make-out session. I always needed a few minutes after these to make sure I was alive. The way Andrew kissed me was more than I could handle. He took me to another place, a place of warmth and safety. His kisses were my drug and I could never get enough of them.

Andrew whispered in my ear, “You want to go upstairs?” My heart skipped a beat, I had never been asked that before but the answer was yes. The only thing that could come out of my mouth was a ‘mhmm.’ Andrew picked me up and carried me upstairs to my room. He still had maneuver himself around some boxes since my mom hadn’t unpacked them yet. As we had just begun to kiss more passionately, Andrew pulls back and looks me straight into my eyes.

“Erica Marie Gonzalez, you are the most amazing person I have ever met. You complete me. I love you. I love you.” The second time he said it, he breathed it in my skin. I didn’t know what to say. I pulled away from him and sat up.
“You love me?” was the only thing that could come out of my mouth.

“More than anything in the world baby, don’t you feel the same way?”

“Uh….”

Chapter 10

Chapter 10 (Andy’s POV)

My mom seemed to hold onto me for what felt like 30 minutes but it had only been about 30 seconds. I felt her tears seep through my clothes. I had no idea why she was crying but she just wouldn’t stop. “Mom, I think we should get off the steps and head back to grandmother’s house.” I told her. All she could do was shake her head. I helped her up the stairs and we got on the subway to grandmother’s house. While on the subway, I just stared at mom. In seven years, she looked like she had aged about 20 years. The drugs were taking a toll on her. I was glad she wanted to go into rehab.
About 30 minutes later, we finally make it to grandmother’s house. She had some food ready for mom and me even though it was 11 at night. I helped my mom unpack some and while doing so, I checked all her stuff to make sure she didn’t bring any drugs with her. I didn’t find anything. She left for rehab in 2 days and I’d rather her go in sober then high. After all the unpacking, I attempted to head to bed.
“Where are you going?” My mom called after me. “We’ve barely had any time to talk. We need to catch up.” Great, after 7 years NOW my mom wants to be a mother.
“Mom, I really do not want to talk right now. I have to get to bed since I have rehearsal tomorrow.” I didn’t want this conversation right now, can’t it wait until tomorrow.
“Just a few questions, hun. I haven’t had a real conversation with you in over 7 years.” I breathed deeply but just shook my head showing her that I would answer the questions she had. “Well, How’s high school? How did you meet the guys in the band? Have you had any performances? Are you dating anyone? What’s her name? Are you being safe with her? Remember darling, no glove no love!” I didn’t think she could get so many questions out in just one breath. I decided to ignore the girl questions and just answer about the band.
“Uh, high school is nice. I’m glad grandmother could send me to St. Claude’s. Do you remember Alex from when I was younger? Well him, two guys we met freshmen year, and I decided we wanted to start a band. We had our first gig yesterday and it went really well. Some producers were there. We hope to hear back tomorrow or the next day.” I replied. I hope she would forget the whole girl thing.
“Well, isn’t that sweet. Now the girl. You didn’t answer those questions. What’s her name? I can tell you care about her, but remember to be safe. It only takes one time.” Boy didn’t I know that. One mistake and now I’m losing the girl who has changed my life in just one week.
“Mom, do we have to talk about this now?” I just looked at her pleading her to not make me answer the questions.
“No, we can discuss it tomorrow. But remember, mistakes may happen but always follow your heart.” I said thank you and walked out the door. How did she know that I was dating someone and what was up with the no glove no love thing? Did she know that I had made a mistake with Jessica? How did she know about Erica? What did she mean follow my heart? I fell asleep with all these questions on my mind. I knew it was going to be a rough night sleeping.

I woke up the next morning at 9:30. I needed to be at Jason’s house at 10. Crap! I am always late. I jumped out of bed, took the fastest shower known to man and rush to the subway. I get to Jason’s at 9:58. 2 minutes to spare.
“Where the hell have you been?” I hear Jason screaming at me from behind.
“I’m sorry. I had something last night and I didn’t get to bed until late.” I still hadn’t told them my mom situation, that could wait until after practicing.
“Yeah ‘something’ to do!” Alex replied taking his fingers and making air quotes while he said something. I was about to tackle him when Mike stepped in.
“Alright, whatever. Let’s get to rehearsal. We might be hearing from a record producer today!” We all mumbled in agreement and got to rehearsing. We had been going at it for about 2 hours when the phone rang. We all stopped and stared at each other. Michael looked at the phone and noticed it was a number he didn’t recognize. My heart was racing as fast as possible. This phone call could change our career.
“Hello.” Mike answered hesitantly. His voice cracked while he said it. We couldn’t hear what the man was saying on the other end of the phone call. All we could hear was Mike’s yes sirs, mhmm, and his nodding. “We can definitely do that sir. Thank you so much for this opportunity.”
Alex, Jason, and I just stood there standing at us while Mike got off the phone with the producer. We figured it was good news but what type of good news. Were we signed or did we have more stuff that we needed to do for that to happen?
“Well, that was Mr. Jonas from Jonas Records. He was there last night and said that he really liked our sound. He wants us to record ‘See U in the Dark’ and send it to him. He is going to give it to the people higher up, but he said it looks good.” We didn’t know what to say. All of a sudden we were hugging each other and giving each other high fives. Alex, Mike, and Jason called their parents and families. I was about to call Erica but I couldn’t yet. I needed to see her and tell her in person. We decided to end practice there since it was such a good day, but I needed to tell them about mom.
“Guys, I hate to damper this mood, but there is something I need to tell you.”
“Don’t tell me you got someone else pregnant.” Alex said sarcastically. I glared at him.
“Ha ha, very funny but no. It’s about my mom.”
“Your mom? But you said you haven’t seen her in about 7 years.” Mike stated.
“I haven’t but she came back into my life a few days ago.” I proceeded to tell them about the whole situation with my mom and how she returned and was going into rehab.
“Well, your life has been fun lately Andrew?” Jason replied with a little attitude.
“Is that what fun is these days? I wouldn’t know,” was all I could say. The guys seemed to understand and they weren’t mad at me in any way for keeping it from them. They understood now why I was late for practice. After the conversation we went and got some pizza and then headed our separate ways. I went right to Erica’s house. I needed to see her and I wanted to talk to her more than anything.
As I walked up to Erica’s house I became nervous. I hadn’t seen her since Friday night and our last conversation was very um.. dramatic to say the least. After about 2 minutes, she finally answered the door. Her eyes were bloodshot and red all around them. It looked like she hadn’t stopped crying for the past 2 days. Before I said anything, I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into the tightest hug I could ever think of. I felt her tears fall on me but could tell she was happy I was there. I was her support. I was the first guy she had opened up to.
“I’m here now baby, for you and only you.” I whispered into her ear.
“What about Jessica?” She mumbled into my shirt.
“You’re the one I want. I will support the baby but you are the one I choose. I will not leave you.”
“Andrew, you are the best thing that could have happened to me.”
“I’ve heard that a lot.” I said sarcastically while I added a wink. Erica looked at me with an evil stare and smacked me at the back of the head. “What did you do that for?” I said rubbing the back of my head.
“For being a smartass, that’s what.” Erica said. She then pulled away from my hug and started running from me. She already knew me well enough to know that I was going to get her for that comment. She ran away laughing and I finally caught up to her. I tickled her like crazy. Our tickle fight turned into some kisses. Just like Friday night, the kiss shot fireworks through my veins and woke up the butterflies in my stomach. In a matter a days we have gone through so much which has brought us closer. I never thought it was possible that the new girl could be the one.