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….”