When we pulled up to the place, everyone got out of the van and went straight to work unloading the equipment from the back. Looking out the window, I saw how old and dirty the little bar looked. How could anyone go here for fun? I thought as I unbuckled my seatbelt. My door suddenly slid open before I'd even touched the handle and Alex appeared in front of me.

"Ready?" he asked and helped me out, sliding the door shut behind me. He looked excited for tonight and, I admit, I thought that was pretty cool. I knew I would be a nervous wreck if I had to play in front of a bunch of strangers, but he just looked pumped for it. "Here, you're going to need this to hang in the back with us," Alex said and reached for my wrist, wrapping a neon green wristband around it.

"Thanks," I said and followed him towards the back entrance where the rest of the guys were loading in.

"Usually bars don't let anyone under 21 in and we have to leave right after we play, but here no one gives a shit, so we can stay as long as we want," Alex glanced back at me over his shoulder with a grin on his face. I got the feeling he was trying to impress me.

"You really want to hang out here after?" I raised my eyebrows at him. "This place is disgusting."

He laughed softly at the look on my face and shrugged. "Free drinks anywhere seems like a great place to me."

"Well you and I are very different people," I replied.

"Clearly," he countered, the grin returning to his face. He faced forward again and focused his attention on setting up and prepping for their set. Once everything was ready, I stood awkwardly in the back area where the band was supposed to stay before they went on. Everyone around me seemed to have a job to do and I just wasn't sure what to do with myself. I'd never felt so out of place.

"Hey!" I nearly jumped at the sound of Jack's voice as he walked up to me. "You hungry?" he asked with his mouth full of burger. "We bought McDonald's."

I wrinkled my nose in disgust, my stomach churning at the sound of the vile fast food. "No thanks, I'm good—" I tried to decline, but was betrayed by my stomach growling. I remembered I hadn't eaten a thing since lunch today.

Jack folded his arms and smirked at me. "Sounds like your stomach says otherwise."

I fought back the urge to roll my eyes and sighed, "Okay, I'll have some."

He turned around and motioned for me to follow him. We ended up in a small room where the rest of the band, along with some crew people I didn't know, was all eating. "Here you go!" Jack handed me a red Gatorade and wrapped up quarter pounder. Just looking at the food, the smell wafting to my nose, made me queasy. I hadn't eaten this crap since I was a little kid.

"It won't kill you, you know," a soft voice said from behind me. I turned around and saw a tall, pretty brunette with an amused look on her face looking back at me. "Hi, I'm Kara," she said, her smile reaching all the way up to her brown eyes. I'd definitely seen her before; probably at school. We must've had at least one class together.

"Have you ever seen the documentaries they make about this shit? It could kill me," I said, but she only laughed.

"Well if you don't want it I'm sure Jack, the human garbage disposal, will be happy to take it off your hands," she joked.

"I don't think so! I'm watching my figure for all the ladies tonight!" Jack protested from across the tiny room, rubbing his hands down his sides. I cracked a smile at how ridiculous he looked and Kara burst out laughing.

"What ladies, Jack?" Alex cackled as he entered the room. "You couldn't get a girl even if the last two dudes on earth were you and Chewbacca!"

Jack ignored Alex's comment and went back to shoveling fries into his mouth. When Alex saw me laughing with Kara, he walked over. "So are you having fun yet?" he asked.

I pretended to think about it for a moment. "Ask me again after you play," I answered, feeling a little flirty tonight. It was all just for fun, of course. A little messing around never hurt anyone. He raised his eyebrows, surprised by my reply, but quickly recovered with a grin.

"You won't be disappointed."

***
Kara threw herself into the crowd as the guys took the stage, but I waited back where I could watch without being sweated on by crowd surfers and strangers that were way too close for comfort. I couldn’t say tonight was in the running for top five most exciting nights of my life, but I had to admit that Alex and his friends were good. I'd always thought that they were just some wannabe punk rockers, playing covers in their parents' basements, but right now they were proving me wrong. I was impressed.

"Hey!" Kara ran up to me, sounding all out of breath. Her hair was messily tied up in a bun and her clothes were clinging to her sweaty body. She looked like she'd just run a marathon or something. "I know you're not really into this, but I promise it's so much more fun in the crowd!" she said, yelling so that her voice could be heard over the music. I looked out past her at the insane crowd, wondering if maybe she was right and I should give it a chance. I'd already done so many things today that I never ever thought I'd do. What was one more thing?

"Um…okay I guess," I finally decided and she instantly grabbed onto me and led me out into the very center of all the chaos. At first, I felt like I couldn't breathe. People were pushing me in all different directions all at once and I felt like I'd just gotten on a bad rollercoaster that it was too late to get off of. Kara noticed me struggling and linked her arm with mine, keeping me by her side. I felt better once I no longer feared being knocked over and stomped to death on, but I was still trying to figure out why people considered this whole thing "recreational". If I wanted to get beat up, I certainly wouldn't have to pay for a ticket to do it.

I tried to make the best of it and focused on Alex playing onstage. I listened to him sing and watched the way he interacted with the crowd, making them scream and go nuts any time he wanted them to. He had the complete control of just about every person in the room and I even found myself screaming and trying to sing along by the middle of the set. It amazed me how a group of strangers could bond over one thing and sing together like we were all the closest friends. Maybe that’s why people liked this so much. Being in a crowd, connecting with the people on stage and the people right next to you really made you feel like you were part of something. I'd never felt anything quite like it before.

***
"That was so sick bro!" Rian high fived Jack, who then jumped on Zack's back and nearly took him to the floor. Kara and I were sitting on the couch in the little room we'd eaten in earlier, drinking water and trying to cool down. I felt sweaty and gross. I was so glad there were no mirrors in here because I couldn't even imagine how messed up I looked.

"Awesome show boys!" Alex announced, raising his bottle of beer in the air before taking a swig. He walked over to Kara and me and plopped down between us, spilling some of his drink onto the floor in the process. "So what did you think?" he turned to me and asked. "Impressed?"

I shrugged. "You were okay I guess," I said teasingly, laughing when he made a face at me.

"I saw you dancing in the crowd," he retorted. "Didn't know you had it in ya."

"Well there are lots of things I bet you don't know about me."

Alex took another sip of his drink, eyeing me carefully. "Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Well…" I trailed off and snatched his drink from his hand. I tipped it back, taking a huge swig and wiped my mouth on the back of my hand as I gave the bottle back to him. "I bet you didn't know I liked beer."

He smiled, chuckling softly and said, "Interesting. Not completely surprised though. Everyone has a little wild streak inside of them just dying to bust out."

"Oh really?" I raised my brow at him.

"Yeah, but I don't think yours is completely out yet," he smirked, taking another long sip.

"Oh?" I said.

"Yeah, it takes a lot more than one gulp of beer to impress me, princess," he replied, smirking at me. I narrowed my eyes at him, playing along. He was challenging me now and he had no idea what he was getting himself into.