"Well, this is it" We were stood outside the hotel doors, our bags littered the pavement around us. We all looked up at the tired building, its windows smeary and shutters hanging off. There was only so much our budget could buy. We had all only recently left college and didn’t have much money coming in. I did the best I could to find something affordable. The building stood in front of me definitely looked better on the website I had booked it on.
"It's…. Authentic…?" Sky said, obviously trying to be positive . Lola wasn’t that tactful.
"This is the best you could get?" She raised her eyebrows, looking the hotel up and down.
"It’s the best we could afford" I told her honestly, sighing. I agreed with her really.
"It's what's inside that matters guys" Sky said, jabbing Lola in the ribs with her elbow. Lola rubbed her side, scorning at Sky. Obviously not realising why she had done it.
"Yeah, Sky's right. And anyway, it's not all that bad" Violet added, smiling up at me. She was so sweet.
"Well, I don’t think us staring at it is going to make it any more bearable" I said, turning to look at the rest of the group. Violet nodded in agreement, picking up her bags from the floor.
"Yepp, lets go check in" She chimed. Everyone picked up their stuff and followed her through the grimy rotating door. It wasn’t much better in reception. The carpets were worn and covered in a vulgar pattern. A plump, mad haired woman sat behind the reception desk, filing her nails. She didn’t look up as we entered. We all stared at each other, unsure on what to do. Lola dropped her bags on the floor. The loud bang even made me jump as I watched her do it. The receptionist snapped her head up, dropping her nail file. She checked us in with a smile, telling us how to get to our room. Unsurprisingly the lifts were broken, so we had to lug our heavy bags up the stairs which never seemed to end which of course Lola complained about. We finally reached the door marked with the number that matched our key.
"Brace yourselves" Lola said, only half joking.
"Shut up" Sky huffed. Lola looked at her, taken aback. She poked her tongue out, letting her know she wasn’t being serious. I laughed briefly before slotting the key in the door and swinging it open, praying to myself the room wouldn’t be as disgusting as I feared it would be. I walked through the threshold, the others followed close behind. I sighed with relief. Okay, it wasn’t perfect. The carpets and bed sheets were a maroon colour and the windows were pretty damn dirty, but the rest of the room was clean. It was bearable. I turned the girls.
"What do you think?" I asked, not sure what to expect.
"You did good!" Violet smiled at me. Sky nodded as she swept her eyes across the room.
"It's not like we're gunna be spending a lot of time in here anyway" She added as she dropped her bags down on the bed nearest the door. Lola ran to the other side of the room, throwing herself onto the only double bed, pushed up against the far wall.
"Shotgun!" She shouted, landing in a starfish shape on the covers.
"Hey! That's not fair" Violet whined. She looked at me with puppy eyes, expecting me to sort it out. I shrugged with a smile.
"Snooze you loose" Lola said as she rolled over, dislodging her face from the duvet. I carried my bags over to the bed that was left unoccupied. I really wasn’t that fussed as long as it was clean and comfortable.

"So, what should we do now?" Sky said as we sat on the floor catching our breath, after we had packed Lola started a pillow fight. Pillows now littered the carpet. I really shouldn’t have jumped around like I had. I'd been feeling a little rough since we had left the plane. Me running around had just made it worse.
"Eat" Lola said with a grin, patting her stomach. I rolled my eyes at her with a grin.
"Do you ever stop thinking about your stomach Lo?" Sky laughed. Lola thought about it for a second, mockingly stroking her chin.
"...No, no I don’t think I do" She said with a shrug.
"How about we just go explore? There's got to be something cool to do" Violet added.
"You know what guys, I think I'm gunna get my head down. Not feeling great" I said, running my hand through my hair. The girls frowned at me.
"Amber…?" Sky said with a worried expression.
"I'm okay, well I will be when I catch up on some sleep"
"Do you want me to stay with you? I can always call room service, the food looks pretty good" Lola offered. I rolled my eyes at her with a smile. Why was I not surprised? I didn’t think room service would be ready for her appetite.
"No, no. You go ahead, I'll be fine. Honest" I assured them.
"Hmm...okay. I'll take my phone so call if you need me yeah?" Violet placed her hand on my shoulder and looked at me with kind eyes. I nodded, placing my hand on top of hers before she pulled it away.
"Right, come on then guys!" She said to the others.
"We'll bring you back some food!" Lola said as she pulled herself up off of the floor. I said goodbye as they left and crawled into bed.

I tossed and turned, but I just couldn’t get to sleep. I huffed and threw the covers back, walking over to the window and pushing it open. The fresh air felt good on my face. Our room was near the top floor, so I could see right across the city. The view was surprisingly pretty, the rest of the city was better looking than this dump. My eyes swept across the little houses and the busy streets, people going about their days as usual. I wondered for a moment if I would be able to spot the others, before realising how stupid I was to ask myself that. Of course I wouldn’t. I was about to head back to bed when something caught my eye. It was a music shop just a few streets away, I could see the guitars hung in the window. I drummed my fingers on the windowsill as I mentally worked out the route I would have to take to get there. It seemed pretty simple. I thought I could do with the fresh air anyway, it wasn’t like I was going to get any sleep. I texted Violet to let her know I was leaving the hotel room, I knew she would let the others know. I laced up my converses, grabbed the room key and left, closing the door behind me. The receptionist downstairs was still filing her nails as I walked past her to leave, I was surprised she had any left.

It was only a short walk to the shop, luckily it was easy to find. I pushed open the door and stepped inside, the door beeped as I entered. Quiet music played in the background and there was no one to be seen. I guess the shop assistant was busy. I slowly walked along the wall of guitars, wondering to myself how much each of them cost. They were all beautiful, but one in particular stood out to me. It was a mahogany acoustic, it was such a deliciously warm brown. I'd never seen one quite like it. I brushed its shiny surface with my fingertips. I saw a guy approach me from the corner of my eye. He looked a few years older than me, dressed in black skinnies and a plain grey t-shirt. His hair was messy and his face was cute.
"It's beautiful isn't it? I've been secretly hoping it stays on the shelf until I can afford it myself" He said as he turned to stare at the guitar like I was.
"I don't blame you" I said, dropping my hand but keeping my eyes on it.
"Are you interested? " He asked, turning to me.
"Oh, I could never afford it" I gave him a small smile.
"Well, can't say I'm not relieved. Can I help you with anything else?"
"No thanks, just browsing" I answered.
"Well give me a shout if you want anything" He said with a subtle nod before turning and walking into the room behind the till. I made sure he was gone before taking the guitar off of the wall, placing the strap over my shoulder. I slid my fingers along the strings and began to play Stairway to Heaven quietly, hoping the shop assistant didn’t hear. I wasn’t sure If I was supposed to be playing it. But he did, poking his head round the doorframe.
"You can play pretty well" He said with a hint of surprise in his voice.
"Yeah, my brother taught me. He's twice as good as I am"
"He must be pretty damn good. Is he in America with you? I mean... I assumed your not from round here, British accent and all" He asked, his expression told me he wasn’t sure if he should of asked.
"No, he's at university back in England. He lives on the other side of the country" I gave him a shy smile and dropped my eyes to the floor. There was a small silence before he spoke.
"Miss him?"
"A lot" I answered honestly. We used to spend so much time together before he moved away.
"So...who are you out here with?"
"Three of my friends, we're out here for the summer" He raised his eyebrows at me.
"You seem pretty young to be out here by yourselves, my parents would never let me at your age"
"Neither would mine if they knew" I couldn’t help but grin.
"… You serious? You didn’t tell them?" He said, a little shocked. I nodded.
"Wow. Wouldn’t want to be you when they find out" He said, seeming a little impressed.
"Good job they won't find out then" I told him.
"If your sure" He smiled at me briefly before flicking his gaze to the room behind him.
"Hey, you wanna see something cool?"

"Woooow" I said as I entered the little room. In the centre of the room was a very impressive looking electric guitar. It too was incredibly shiny, a bright neon green with a cartoony looking skull its corner.
"I know right?" He grinned at me.
"What's it doing back here, I bet this would be snapped up!" I said, clearly finding it hard to understand why he was hiding it.
"It's not for sale, it’s a custom"
"Jeeze. Someone's obviously rolling in it" I immediately began to try and imagine who it was for. Whoever it was, was obviously not worried about its price.
"You could say that. He should be here to pick it up soon"
"Oh, did you want me to go?" I asked, hoping he didn’t want me to. I was strangely compelled to see who it belonged to.
"No, it's cool. He's not here yet" He shrugged.
"Who is it for anyway?"
"Some guy in a band, they're playing in town tonight so he's coming to pick it up"
"Did you do this?" I asked him. It was really impressive If he had.
"Yeah"
"It's amazing…..What was your name? I didn’t catch it"
"I didn’t tell you, it's Max."
"Hey Max, I'm Amber"
"Nice to meet you" He held out his hand and I took it, shaking it gently. The door beeped loudly and Max rolled his eyes.
"I'd better go see who that is, probably just a customer" Max added, I nodded with a slight smile to let him know it was fine. Once he had left I turned my attention to the beautiful guitar, leant in its stand. It was so shiny and new. I so wanted to play it. I shoved my hands in my pockets, telling myself it was a bad idea. But I couldn’t resist it. I carefully wrapped my fingers around it's neck, lifting it from the stand. It was surprisingly light. I ran my fingers over the paintwork and lightly plucked at the strings with the very tips of my fingers. I told myself I had to get me one. I flipped over, looking at the socket on the bottom, keeping my hand tightly on the neck.
"Y'know that's not how you play it" A man's voice filled the room, thick with an American accent. I looked up, almost dropping the precious item. I hadn't heard the guy come in. I instantly recognised him. Alex fucking Gaskarth. Why didn’t Max tell me it was him! After I thought about it for a split second I realised why, I would have never left the shop. I stood there staring at him like an idiot, holding his guitar in the same position. He frowned at me, probably wondering if I was incompetent. I quickly flipped it up the right way clumsily, almost hitting the neck on the edge of a nearby table. I handed it back to him with a nervous laugh.
"Thank-you" He said with a hint of amusement and a small smile. He definitely thought I was a little weird, if not completely mad. I nodded at him awkwardly and walked past him. I called to Max, who was stood at the till busily searching through a draw.
"I'll see you around Max, thanks!" I shouted as I hurried to the door, trying to leave before my face exploded into flames.
"You better, see you Amber" He called back, frowning a little. Great. Now he probably thought I was a freak too. I didn’t stop walking till I reached the hotel room. The girls still weren't back. I threw myself down onto the bed, covering my face with my palms. I was glad I was alone, I needed time to calm myself. I had just embarrassed myself so badly I wasn’t sure if I wanted to show my face in that shop again.

Notes

Hey Guys! Sorry its been so long since i updated (:
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Thankyou!!!