— I definitely recommend listening to 'surfing with the alien - joe satriani" to understand the vibe I have for how they perform. it'll be worth it.

When soundcheck ended, I pushed everything back into the dressing room and began to get ready for the actual concert. I tried to avoid the band at all costs, especially Hobie. After that little act, he was messing up the strings and singing the wrong notes.

It didn't take long for me to be back at the hotel, the outfit on that Vanity made for me and back at the venue just in time to be bombarded with Ares suddenly telling me that the band doesn't want to change their outfits, by an unanimous decision and I could sit front row instead. I was livid, not by the fact I worked hard on everything to get this done, but because it felt like I was played in my face by the whole band instead.

The door to the dressing opened, in walking Ares with a headset on and a lanyard outstretched towards me.

"You good?" She asks, the show about to start at any moment.

"Yeah, fuck it." I stand and nod.

"Great. We assigned you a new security guard, Miguel, he is going to be with you during the tour. He was appointed by Hobie for some reason, maybe he feels bad about being a dick." She directs before shutting the door.

"I doubt that, maybe he is a hired killer." I mumbled.

The closer we got to the stage, I heard the sounds of the crowd getting louder and louder. Security started directing me out, four of them but no signs of Miguel since they were wearing name tags. I walked through the hallways like an A-list celebrity being directed towards where I needed to be at. Every step I took, the bigger the vibrations were becoming from the cheers. I gulped, nervous tingling down my spine as I was headed out the side and down the steps to stand front row in front of the pits.

This was only a one time opportunity, the other times for the concert I would be backstage and could only watch on a tv they provided for us back there.

The audience behind me cheered for a band that I just started recognizing as a high profile group, my hands bare as they rested at my side. I was totally amazed at the full stadium, everyone just losing their minds like a thousand little Monique's in one room.

Suddenly I heard a guitar start playing, the lights cutting off. My attention was to look up at the closed curtain. It was an electric guitar riff that was soloing behind the curtains. The screaming got intensively louder, the thumping of the speakers making my chest thump.

The guitar solo was played by Rico, no doubt. She was the smoothest when it came to playing the guitar and since she was Hobie's right hand, there was no denying who that was. The solo was very intricate and skillful.

The curtains opened and the LED lights shone down on the whole band, the guitar playing by of course, Rico, front and center. The amount of male screams got even louder if impossible.

She had on a red wig that was styled in a curl. Her outfit was a dark purple, goth plaid dress, fishnets that connected at the bottom of her dress and black combat boots. Black little gloves and long earrings. She was beautiful, had me second guessing if I knew what type of clothing she liked.

Next to her was Hobie, he stood in a more normal attire. A black t-shirt and a red open flannel over it–usual ripped black jeans. He was looking down at his guitar while Rico played the opening solo, his jaw clenching and unclenching as he drummed against the strings as if he was about to get into the mood.

The guitar solo merged into "Master of Puppets", their unreleased song. I watched them all own the stage, playing their music in a way that made it look so easy. The LED lights created a beautiful ambiance for the perfect action shots.

I couldn't help but keep looking around at the stadium full of people, the screen up high showing a close up of the band playing so everyone could see. Oftentimes Crass would come over to me and stick his tongue out like a child doing something he got told no, but someone said yes. It's hard to believe I was standing here not too long ago watching them as a new fan in a run down venue, now I'm working with them at their first world tour in a long time.

I couldn't do my own job so I was subjected to blend in with the crowd and just sing along to the few I was forced to listen to by Deja and Moni.

Between songs Hobie would grab a blunt from the crowd and take a puff, stepping away from the microphone stand to look at everyone out in the crowd. He sends a wink to a girl a few spots away from me, making her squeal and almost topple over forward like a girl winning the largest lottery.

Everything Hobie was doing was so hypnotic in his every movement and it was really messing with my reality. He inhaled and exhaled the smoke before shortly breathing it out, leaning forward to the pits to hand the blunt back.

"Light whatever shit you have. Light that motherfucking shirt, light that photo of your stupid ex, light it all up." He says into the mic, instructing the crowd who listens without hesitation.

Everyone cheered, ruffling around to take out any form of drugs, photos and useless shirts they had on them. It wasn't long until the air around me started to fill with the scent of narcotics.

The way everyone followed his command, it was hot–but he's a dick let's not forget.

The show continued to play, many moments wowing me. He had such an incredible voice, I wish he used that voice to talk like a normal human being and not some annoying fuck. At some point during one of their sets I was transfixed on Rico, Crass, Ozzy and Opium who knew how to steal a show when Hobie was running off the side of the stage for a quick audio recheck. They were crazy talented, making it look so effortless.

Hobie has a certain charm to him when he performs. He's an absolute asshole but his minimal words and efforts make him look very appealing. Keeping this in mind, I still hated him.

But in the middle of his set, their signature song 'Daddy Issues' started playing and I was right down in front of him, I fully believed he actually smiled at me. It caught me off guard but it also made my stomach burst with tingling for some reason. We kept eye contact for a short period of time and I didn't let him get a reaction out of me, not at all. My face stayed neutral, I didn't bat an eyelash and I sure as hell didn't entertain him.

When I thought I was seeing things after moving back to give my attention to Ozzy who played a riff in front of me, Hobie walked closer to the edge that I thought he would've fallen right off, but he actually hopped down on the floor in front of me. My stomach tensed immediately, my hands sweating as I already knew where this was going. I could smell the smoke of the blunt he took a drag of earlier, the mismatched color spotlight following him.

I shook my head, watching as he took a step right up to me, my skin going pale the minute we made eye contact with just the barrier between us.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" He points the mic at me.

I looked around at everyone behind him and to my side, lifting a finger up to my chest to make sure I wasn't a ghost suddenly and he wasn't talking to someone behind me. I could see Crass have a confused look on his face before turning to Opium who shrugged, moving away from his drum set and starting to distract half the arena as he did the same thing; the group followed in suit.

"You are the only one in front of me, who else?" The crowd laughs and I feel my cheeks heat up.

"Alex." I answer into the mic, half of the stadium hearing as the other half was too busy wanting to get their hands touched or pictures taken by the other band members.

"Alex.." He trails off, biting his lower lip before nodding his head with a hum. "You here alone tonight?" He then asks, making my stomach knot. I knew he was doing this on purpose to get back at me for disrupting him during his soundcheck, but to stoop this low in front of 40,000 people was a new low that I wouldn't forget.

"Nah, my boyfriend went to go get something to drink. He'll be jealous to know you came down to us." I replied back. His brown eyes met my own, no longer roaming my face to find any discomfort in my posture when he heard the word boyfriend. The stadium didn't need to know I was out of my element being here, it was evident I didn't come with anyone since the group next to me was side eyeing me like I grew a second head.

Hobie reaches behind me to grip another random blunt from a fan, taking a small puff before sucking in the air and letting it exhale out from his nose. "I was going to give this puff to you, Alex... but I have a feeling you couldn't handle it. I mean, what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" He points the mic back to me lazily.

Now I was just offended.

I stared at him for a second, blinking and looking at him like he was the one who grew a third head before grasping the blunt out from his chipped painted fingertips, bringing it immediately to my mouth.

I wasn't a shy schoolgirl who didn't do anything growing up. I just didn't like to flaunt it or tell anyone my personal business.

My lips wrapped around the blunt, sucking lightly just enough to feel the thickness fill my mouth and whither down my throat. He watches me inhale through the delicate roll that was previously in his mouth and the fans, examining my every move as I did it. His eyes made hard contact with me, taking my breath away as I did well holding my own with this random person's blunt. Then, near the end, he watches as I start to blow out perfect circles towards his face, his own pink lips parting very slightly with amusement and analysis.

Everyone hollered behind me, ones that could see the exchanged wolf whistled. He kept his stare at my lips like I faked it, but you couldn't fake that. "There, now you better go back to your show before the fans think Rico is the lead singer and not you." I hold it back behind me without turning my body, trying to play the part.

"This next song is called Endless Fashion." He said shortly into the mic, making everyone cheer while he walked back up the steps to the stage again. The rest of the show he avoided eye contact with me, purposely skipping my section of the crowd and all I could do was smirk with my arms crossed.

I wasn't going to let him ruin the rest of my night.