If I was a car I wouldn’t run on gasoline, I’d run on comments. I’m just sayin : P
Chapter 3
“Alright everyone! Let’s break for lunch!” the director yelled.
Adam passed Carter’s leash to Jessica. “Here. I’ll see you in his dressing room in an hour,” he said as he walked away. Jess rolled her eyes. The only time Adam let her work with Carter, actually the only time he ever spoke to her, was when it was time for a break. She had been on the set for almost a week now and she was starting to wonder if coming out to California at all had been a huge mistake. She absent mindedly touch the sunglasses that rested on her head, holding her wavy brunette hair back like a headband. She hadn’t gotten to talk to Kevin, or any of the Jonases for that matter, since her first day. Every time she saw him she wished he would glance over and notice that she was wearing the sunglasses he had given her.
Jess walked Carter back to his dressing room. The big dog immediately flopped to the floor and Jessica sat down next to him. She started to massage his shoulders. He was an older dog and she noticed how stiff his joints had been lately. She ran her hands down his forelimbs, working his joints over with her hands. A knock at the door made her look up. A young boy was standing in the doorway. “Can I come in?”
“Sure. I’m Jess.” She held out her hand for him to shake.
“I’m Frankie.” Jessica was surprised by how maturely he shook her hand and looked her right in the eye. He sat down on the other side of Carter and stroked the dog’s soft brown head.
“So what can I do for ya, Frankie?”
“Oh nothing. My brothers are doing some phone interview thing and my mom said I had to go play somewhere else.”
“Your brothers?”
“Kevin, Nick, and Joe. They’re rock stars you know.”
“Is that so?”
“Yup. But when I grow up I’m gonna be way more famous than they are. My band is probably the best band ever.”
“Well I’d love to hear you guys sometime.”
“Carter’s a good dog. I wish I could have a dog.”
“Why can’t you?”
“Mom says they’re too much work and that it wouldn’t be fair for a dog to have to ride around in a tour bus all the time. But I said that it’s not fair for me to have to ride around in a tour bus all the time either but I do ok.”
Jessica chuckled and Frankie grinned at her. “Well maybe one day you can have one.”
“One what?” Kevin was standing in the doorway.
“A dog,” Frankie replied, not looking up from Carter.
“Well Mom’s looking for you. You’ve got some math work to finish.”
Frankie sighed dramatically. “Oh alright.” He stood up and walked over to Kevin with his head down. He turned back to Jessica and asked, “Is it ok if I come back here and hang out with you and Carter sometimes?”
“Any time,” she answered.
Frankie stopped in front of Kevin and held out his hand. “Can I have my five dollars now?”
Kevin laughed a little, looking from his brother to Jessica and back again. “What are you talking about?”
“You promised me that if I come down here so you could have an excuse to talk to her,” Frankie pointed at Jess, “that you would give me five dollars.”
Kevin laughed nervously. “Excuse us for just a second.” Kevin pushed Frankie out into the hall. “I told you that that would be our little secret. You’re making me look like an idiot,” he loudly whispered.
“No, you’re making you look like an idiot. Now give me my money or I’ll go back in there and tell her you’ve been freaking out about talking to her for days.”
“Fine. Here, you little con man. Here’s ten dollars. Now go bug Joe or something.”
Frankie poked his head back into the room. “Bye, Jess!” He gave her a quick wave and then was gone.
“Sorry about that,” Kevin said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Kids, always saying the craziest things.”
“Yeah.” An awkward silence passed between them.
“So, uh, you look good. I mean, your eye, it looks better.” He sat down on the floor next to her, his back resting against the couch.
“Well these certainly helped.” Jessica pulled the sunglasses off of her head and put them on. “Plus I think they look just fabulous.” She did her best impression of a Hollywood diva, posing for effect.
Kevin smiled. “So how do you like everything so far?”
“Well I think I’ve finally adjusted to the time difference.” Kevin nodded, acknowledging that he, too, had been there. “But everyone here is so…so fast! They’re always in a hurry. And no one ever says ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ or ‘excuse me.’ They just run into you on the street and keep going!” Kevin started to laugh uncontrollably. Jess tried to give him her best evil look. “I guess I must seem like a stupid hick or something.”
“No, I’m sorry. It’s just that I remember feeling exactly the same way when we first got here. I was all, ‘Slow down! Where are you running to?’ It totally freaked me out.” He reached over and patted her arm. “You’ll get used to it eventually.”
“That might be worse.” She wrinkled her nose. They talked about everything and nothing for what seemed like forever. Suddenly Kevin’s cell phone started to vibrate loudly. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked the caller ID.
“Oh man. It’s Nick. I told him to call me when we needed to get back on set.”
“Oh. Ok. Maybe I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah, definitely.” Kevin got up and started to walk away, then turned back toward her. “I don’t know if you’re doing anything tonight but we’re going out to a movie and if you’re free, well you should come. We have to go at midnight since it’s kind of impossible otherwise. If you don’t want to I totally understand.”
“I’d love to.”
“Really? Cool. Ok, can I pick you up at say eleven?”
“Sounds great. I’m staying at the Radisson.”
“Alright, awesome. I’ll, uh, see you later then.” He walked out of the room, turning back to look at her one more time as he rounded the corner of the door.
* * * * *
“Why are you smiling like an idiot?” Nick asked, looking up from tuning his guitar, as Kevin walked into the dressing room.
“Guys, clear your schedules. We are going out tonight.” Kevin looked at Nick and Joe, their faces showing confusion and some annoyance.
“What are you talking about?” Joe asked.
“We’re going to the movies.” Kevin couldn’t understand why they weren’t as excited as he was.
“Who’s going to the movies?” asked Nick.
“Well you and Joe and me and Jess.” Kevin picked up his acoustic guitar and sat down on the couch next to Nick.
“Oh no. We are not going on a date with you,” Joe said, shaking his head.
“Guys, it’s not a date.” Nick looked at Joe and the two laughed. “I didn’t say ‘Hey would you like to go on a date with me?’ I just mentioned that we were going out tonight and that she could come along if she wanted to. He shrugged.
Joe and Nick looked at him and said in unison, “Date.”
“Can’t I just ask a girl to go to a movie just as friends?”
“Hey Nick, you wanna harmonize on this one?”
“Sure thing, Joe.”
“Daaaate,” the two sang together.
“You guys suck, you know that.” Kevin hit Nick in the face with one of the pillows from the couch.
“Look, Joe and I will chaperone you on your date, ok?” Nick asked.
“You can call it whatever you want but it’s just four friends going out together.” Kevin stood up and walked out of the room, taking his guitar with him.
Joe shook his head. “It’s so a date.”
