Loving the Band (15 page)

I collapsed into giggles and began to jump up and down with her.

After I had eaten my breakfast and spent an age in the shower, it was already eleven o’clock. The doorbell rang again and I swiftly stood up from the sofa, walking over to the front door. I open the door and was greeted warmly by five smart-looking ladies, all dressed in the same black uniform with their hair pulled back into a tight ponytail.

‘Miss Wright and Miss Smith?’ the woman in front chirped, ‘Lois’ according to her name tag.

‘Yes, that’s us,’ I replied, keeping my hand placed on the
door.

She smiled. ‘We have been sent here by your evening’s dates to get you ready for tonight.’

‘Oh wow!’ I said, smiling. ‘Please come in.’ There was no end to fantastic surprises from those boys this morning. I felt totally spoilt, and it felt good!

I noticed that each of them was carrying a different sized box in their hands, probably full of everything they needed to transform someone into a red-carpet beauty.

I led them into the kitchen where they started to set up everything they needed. I left them to get ready as I went to go find Tegan, bringing her down the stairs so she could meet the ladies.

‘Hi!’ Tegan chirped, walking into the kitchen in front of me. ‘I’m Tegan.’

‘Good morning, Tegan! Lovely to meet you,’ a pretty blonde woman said, who by the looks of it was the youngest of the group. ‘I’m Alexia, but you can call me Lex. I will be doing your nails today!’ She gestured excitedly at the range of nail products she had spread out on the table.

Tegan squirmed excitedly as her eyes widened like a kid in a candy shop. She rushed over to Lex, becoming engrossed in nail-colour conversation straight away.

‘Hello, Miss Wright, I’m Lois. Do you want to come over here and I will get started on your nails?’ Lois smiled, gesturing to the two empty seats at the table.

‘Sure,’ I said, making my way over and sitting down on the chair. ‘You can call me Jess, by the way,’ I added with a
smile. Lois smiled, taking my hands gently and beginning the manicure.

About halfway through getting our nails done, I noticed my dad appear in the doorway, only to spin round on his heels and walk out again.

‘Dad!’ I shouted, knowing full well he’d heard me.

A few short seconds later, he appeared again. ‘Yeah, love?’ he asked sheepishly, his eyes flickering over the women invading his kitchen.

‘Why don’t you make these lovely ladies a nice cup of tea?’ I suggested with a smug smile.

He narrowed his eyes at me. ‘Sure.’

‘How do you want your hair?’ Lynn asked from behind me, gathering my hair and placing it down my back.

I shrugged my shoulders ‘However you think it will look best,’ I replied, not knowing the first thing about hairdressing.

‘OK! That’s a hairdresser’s dream!’ she chirped.

Tegan and I spent the entire afternoon getting made over: manicures, pedicures, facials, waxes and even a light spray tan, believe it or not, all from the comfort of home. In fact, we had lost track of time and now had only two hours left before the premiere. The ladies had a slight rush on, but kept as calm and poised as when they’d first arrived.

‘Close your eyes,’ Lois ordered softly, and I did as I was told.

I felt her brush something on my eyelids, slightly
tickling my eyelashes as she did so.

‘Open,’ she ordered again.

I watched her as she stepped back to admire her work. A pleased smile spread across her face. She walked back over, brushing my cheeks with some powder before straightening up her back.

‘Perfecto!’ she smiled, placing the pallet of colours gently on the table.

‘Thanks, Lois!’ I smiled thankfully, dying to take a look at myself.

‘Are you ready to look in the mirror?’ Lois said, almost as if she was reading my mind.

I nodded my head eagerly, but Tegan had other plans.

‘Nooo!’ she called from my side.

I turned my head slowly to look at Tegan next to me, careful not to disturb Lynn with her work. Tegan was currently getting extensions clipped into her hair.

‘Why not?’ I asked.

‘Because we can look together when we are both ready!’ she giggled.

‘OK,’ I chuckled back.

I waited patiently as Tegan’s final extensions were carefully put in place. Together we skipped off to my bedroom to don our beautiful gowns.

A few minutes later, I already felt like a queen as I carefully walked downstairs.

‘Are you nervous?’ Lynn whispered, holding the sheet covering the long mirror.

I nodded my head slowly, feeling the diamond earrings
bounce in my ears.

‘Don’t be, you look beautiful,’ Lex piped in from the side, giving me a reassuring thumbs up. I took a deep breath, straightening out the silky dress.

I nodded my head. ‘I’m ready.’

Lynn let the sheet drop, revealing the full-length mirror.

I felt my mouth drop open as I stared into the mirror. The girl that stood before me was stunning, her hair swept to the side, falling down her right shoulder in soft curls. The beautiful dress clung to her body, caressing her curves perfectly. It reached the floor, covering her silver high heels. Her make-up was perfect also, subtle but shimmering. The diamond earrings picked up the glittering line of crystals that graced her back. That’s when I realized: the girl in the mirror was me.

‘You look beautiful!’ Tegan shrieked from behind me.

I turned round, coming face to face with a radiant Tegan. She stood swathed in a strapless champagne dress, which hugged her gorgeous curves all the way down to the floor. Her hair was pinned up loosely into a bun, a few curls falling around her face and dangling gold earrings caught the light as she spun round.

‘Says you!’ I exclaimed, gesturing towards my beautiful best friend.

She placed her hand on her hip, striking a pose. ‘I do look pretty hot, don’t I?’ She winked.

I responded with a laugh, turning back to the ladies. ‘Thank you so much!’ I exclaimed, smiling gratefully at all of them.

‘You are more than welcome!’ they chimed in unison.

‘We’d better be off. You guys have fun tonight!’ Lynn said.

I heard my dad’s voice drift over from behind me. ‘Wow, you girls look beautiful!’

‘Thank you, Daddy!’ I chirped as I turned round, finding my dad standing in the doorway.

‘Are you nervous?’ he asked.

I nodded my head, feeling that familiar sensation of butterflies invading my stomach.

‘Don’t worry, you will be fine,’ he assured me, putting an arm round my shoulders. ‘When did you get so grown up?’ he asked sentimentally.

I groaned in response.

Suddenly a beep from outside caused Tegan and me to jump. I felt Tegan at my side instantly, her pinky finger wrapping round mine.

‘Right, have fun. And remember not to be nervous. Don’t stay out too late. Is the hotel sorted? Will you be OK?’ my dad interrogated us, grabbing my red clutch bag and handing it to me.

I smiled at him, taking the bag from his hands and answering his questions one by one: ‘I’m sure I will, I won’t and, yes, the boys sorted it so Tegan and I will be sharing a room. I’ll be fine, Dad,’ I laughed, turning to him, arms open for a hug, and he embraced me, making sure he didn’t tousle my hair.

‘Right, OK. You’d better be off, then,’ he said with a
smile as he let go.

‘Ready?’ Tegan whispered.

‘Ready,’ I replied.

‘CALLUM!’ I heard Tegan shriek as we emerged from the doorway. She ran over to where he stood beside a sleek black limousine, giving him a long hug, her head snuggled into the crook of his neck. I shuffled my feet awkwardly before letting out a fake cough.

Callum released Tegan and turned towards me, laughing. ‘Hey, Jess. You look lovely.’

I laughed back. ‘Hi, Callum,’ I said as he opened the door to the limousine, gesturing for me to get in.

I smiled at him gratefully, picking up the bottom of my dress and sliding into the car. A chorus of ‘hey, Jess!’ erupted as soon as I stepped foot into the limo. I slowly took in my surroundings. The limo was lit with a row of purple neon lights, making it feel like the inside of a club. Two rows of black leather seats faced each other and at the end there was a small bar. The ceiling was entirely mirrored so that when the lights hit it an array of pretty colours danced across the limo, just like a disco ball.

I sat myself next to Riley on the leather seat as Callum
got in, shutting the door behind him. I looked up, noticing that there were two beautiful girls I’d never seen before. One was sitting next to Logan and the other next to Tyler. I also noticed that Shaq wasn’t here, but he was probably with Gaby.

‘Hey, everyone,’ I said, smiling nervously.

One of the girls nudged Logan in his rib, whispering something to him. She was beautiful; well, that’s to be expected since she was probably his girlfriend. She looked just as he had described to me the other day: silky long blonde hair, styled into soft waves, stunning green eyes and a petite body shown off to perfection by a figure-hugging floor-length emerald dress.

‘Jess, this is Rose, my girlfriend. Rose, this is Jessica.’

I smiled, reaching out to shake her hand. She took my hand in hers almost instantly, smiling before she spoke.

‘Hey, Jess. I’ve heard a lot about you.’

I frowned, wondering why anyone would be speaking to her about me, but I shrugged it off, coming to the conclusion that it was probably Logan.

Smiling in reply, I let go of her hand. ‘You’re just as beautiful as Logan said.’

Rose turned to face Logan, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him. ‘Really?’ I heard her giggle as they engrossed themselves in conversation.

‘Jess?’ I turned my head in the direction of the voice and came across Tyler and the other girl. She was equally beautiful and I couldn’t stop admiring her poker-straight auburn hair, which almost reached her hips. She was
sporting a black silk dress with glittering gold sequins lining the bottom.

‘This is Laura,’ he said proudly.

‘Nice to meet you,’ I chirped with a smile.

I sat back on the leather seat with a big sigh, feeling my stomach flip as we got closer and closer to the venue.

I heard a familiar voice in my ear: ‘You forgot someone,’ and I turned my head to see Riley’s confident smile. I returned it, taking in his appearance. He was wearing a black suit like the rest of the boys, but, instead of a tie, his collar was left open. His usual wild, blond curly hair was now tamed into soft surfer-like waves that framed his face. He looked really hot!

‘Hey, Riley,’ I breathed.

‘You look absolutely beautiful,’ he said, taking me in from head to toe.

I bit my lip, trying to hide the wide smile that was threatening to show. ‘You look very dapper yourself.’

He chuckled, running his hand through his waves and messing them up. I laughed and shook my head, leaning over to flatten a curl that hadn’t been tamed.

‘Riley, I love my dress so much, thank you. But you really didn’t have to!’

Riley chuckled. ‘I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to.’

I felt my breathing quicken as Riley reached down to touch the fabric of my dress, giving it a quick stroke before returning to his original position.

‘Would you like a drink, Jess?’ Logan said, holding out
a glass of champagne.

I smiled at him, reaching over and taking the glass. ‘Thank you,’ I said, before taking a sip. I felt like grabbing the whole bottle and downing it to calm my nerves, but I thought that might be slightly unladylike.

I spent the rest of the journey in complete silence, trying everything to calm my nerves, but nothing seemed to work. I felt like I was going to be sick, thinking about all the people that were going to be there. Reporters, photographers, famous people … Why on earth had I agreed to this?

I felt the limo come to an abrupt stop as we pulled up to the venue. I could see the flashing lights of the cameras and hear the ecstatic roar of the crowd.

‘Shaq’s in the car behind,’ I heard the driver tell the boys.

‘Jess … Jess? Are you OK? You’re hardly breathing,’ I heard Riley say as I snapped out of it. It was all I could do to stop myself from hyperventilating.

Riley placed both his hands on my shoulders, trying to calm me down.

‘Listen to me, Jess,’ he commanded gently, looking straight into my eyes. ‘You’re going to be fine, I promise. Believe it or not, after lots of these red-carpet events I still get incredibly nervous.’

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief.

‘It’s hard to believe, I know,’ he said, pretending to flick his hair over his shoulder.

I laughed at him, feeling myself get slightly calmer.

‘See, that’s more like it. All they’ll do is take a couple of photos. The press might try to talk to you, but if you don’t want to just tell me and we won’t, OK?’ he whispered soothingly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. ‘Ready?’

I nodded, getting up and stepping out of the limo.

I felt totally overwhelmed as the sound of hundreds of cameras clicking invaded my ears.

‘Riley! Over here, Riley!’ I was deafened by the sound of reporters.

I felt as if I was stuck to the ground, my feet refusing to move. An arm snaked round my waist, and I turned to see Riley holding me, using his other hand to wave enthusiastically at the crowd.

‘Relax,’ he whispered soothingly as he manoeuvred me expertly up the red carpet.

After about twenty minutes of photographs and Riley’s chats with the press, I felt a whole lot calmer. I even found myself posing for photos with Tegan, Laura and Rose when the boys were off being photographed as a group. I still couldn’t pluck up the courage to speak to Emma Stone, though, my all-time favourite actress.

When they came back, I noticed Shaq walking with them and a small brunette girl clinging to his arm.

‘Hey!’ Riley greeted me excitedly, slinging his arm over my shoulder and pulling me into his chest. I chuckled and pushed him away, leaving his hand thrown over my shoulder. Shaq and the girl approached the two of us.

‘Hey, Jess. You look … beautiful.’ As soon as the words had escaped Shaq’s mouth, I felt Riley tighten his grip
around me, pulling me into him even more.