Chapter 4
Georgia
The bus pulled into the parking lot of a nice hotel. Finally, they would be able to walk around a little. Maria was feeling very cooped up. She had to get out. The Mikes addressed everyone as the bus came to a stop in front of the hotel. There were teenage girls standing outside and Maria wondered how they knew where the band would be staying.
"We’ll stay here tonight. The show is tomorrow. Take what you’ll need," Mike M. told them. "Room assignments are as follows: the girls have a room, Jacob, Ashley and Dan are sharing another room, which leaves Trevor with Erik. Wait here while Mike and I check in." Everyone watched as the Mikes got off of the bus. Maria hurried to her bunk to collect some things.
"Ashley?" she called. He appeared beside her. "Can I talk to you tonight. I just need some information for the personal profiles section of the article and since I’m doing this alphabetically, you’re lucky number one." Ashley smiled.
"Sure. Just let me know when you need me and I’ll be at your service," he said. Maria grabbed her bag and smiled at him.
"Okay. Thanks," she said as she followed him back to the others. The guys grabbed what they needed and the Mikes and Cleve reappeared with room cards. They handed one to Susan, one to Jacob and one to Trevor.
"Let’s go," Mike C. said. The girls screamed and yelled the guys’ names as they stepped out of the bus. It was hot. Maria was glad that she had mostly packed clothes for warm weather. The group signed autographs while Maria, Susan and Alex walked ahead to the hotel entrance.
"Look at the way that we’re being stared at," Alex said. "They look hostile." Susan laughed.
"Well, we’re hanging out with their men. They’re just protecting what’s theirs," she said. Maria scoffed at that.
"It’s sad, really," she said. Her cell phone suddenly started ringing in her bag. She fished it out and entered the hotel lobby where it was quieter, not to mention, a lot cooler.
"Hello?"
"I’m calling. Are you happy?" Sarah asked.
"You made it to Emily’s all right?" Maria asked back.
"Yes, I did. She’s cool. We’re gonna have a lot of fun. How about you? What’s it like so far?"
"Well, I got carsick, or bus sick already and we just stopped for the first time since we got on the bus this morning, so it hasn’t been all that great," Maria told her.
"Poor thing, being forced to ride on a bus with five guys in a boy band," Sarah said. Maria rolled her eyes.
"Sarah…"
"I know. I’ll shut up. Well, I gotta go. Do I have to check in with you at any specific time?" she asked.
"No, you don’t. I’ll call you on your cell phone when I can. I’ll talk to you soon. Bye," Maria said.
"Bye," Sarah said back and hung up. Maria hung up just as the group and their entourage entered the hotel.
"Was that Geoff?" Alex asked. Maria shook her head.
"Sarah. She got to our cousin’s place in Boca Raton okay. I’m glad that she was able to find someplace else to go," she said. Susan nodded.
"Have you heard from Geoff?" she asked softly.
"No. He’s being an asshole. So, I’ll let him be an asshole," Maria answered.
"Are you guys through?" Alex asked. Maria shrugged.
"I really don’t know," she said, honestly.
The guys were standing around waiting for the Mikes to tell them to go to their rooms. They noticed the three women talking.
"They’re probably talking about us," Erik said.
"Why would they do that?" Dan asked. Erik shrugged.
"Why are we so paranoid about them? Especially Maria. She’s nice, you guys. Give her a chance," Trevor told them. Jacob gave him a skeptical look. The Mikes then ushered them all towards the elevators and they located their assigned rooms.
"Where are you going?" Alex asked as Maria got what she needed for her information-gathering session with Ashley.
"I have to talk to Ashley. I’ll be back," Maria answered as she left the room. She walked down the hallway and stopped at the next door over from hers. She knocked. The door opened a few seconds later. Ashley smiled at Maria.
"Hi, Maria. Come on in," he said. Maria walked into the room. A cot was sitting against one wall. There was a bag on it and it was relatively neat. Another bed was by the window and had clothes thrown all over it. Jacob occupied the last bed. He was sitting up against the wall, the pillows pushed up behind him and he was lightly strumming a guitar.
"Is this a good time?" Maria asked Ashley.
"Yeah, sure. Dan is with Trevor and Erik and I hope you don’t mind Jake hanging around," he said. Maria looked at Jacob, who looked like he wasn’t going to move, so she shrugged.
"No, I don’t mind," she said. Ashley cleared off his bed and Maria sat down, pulling her legs underneath her and resting her notebook on her crossed knees. She took the pencil out from behind her ear and opened the notebook to the first page.
Ashley sat beside her and waited until she was ready. He smiled at Jacob, who kept playing, his eyes on the pair on the other bed. Finally, Maria was ready. "Okay. I just need some background information," she said.
"What about my hair and eye color?" Ashley asked. Maria looked at him.
"You know how stupid that is. I mean, I’m going to have your picture right there. Why would I need to put your hair color or your eye color next to your picture? I really hope that whoever reads my article isn’t going to be that stupid. Look at the picture! Come on. I can’t stand when I see that," she said. Ashley laughed and Jacob had a smile on his face as well. Maybe she was smarter than they all thought she was. "I’m going to assume that your hair is blonde and your eyes are blue," Maria added with a smile. Ashley pretended to think about it.
"Yeah, I think that’s right," he said.
"See? Then, there’s no need to write it down," Maria said. Ashley looked over at Jacob.
"What if Jacob wears a bandanna? Then no one will know his hair color," Ashley remarked. Maria looked at Jacob.
"In the picture I use, he won’t be wearing anything on his head," she said. Jacob shrugged.
"We’ll see," he told her. Maria didn’t bother responding. "I might want to wear sunglasses, too. Then what will you do?" Jacob asked and smirked at her.
"It’s not gonna happen," Maria told him. "Now, Ashley, I need some family information." Jacob had been dismissed. He could, possibly, have fun when it came time for the photos to be taken. He probably wouldn’t, though. A cell phone started ringing on the floor near Ashley’s bed.
"Excuse me," Ashley said as he found his phone and answered it. After talking for a few seconds, he turned to Maria. "It’s my mom. I’ll be right back." He walked over into the alcove near the door where he could have a little privacy. Maria flipped to the back of the notebook and started doodling.
"How long have you been drawing?" Jacob asked from his bed. Maria didn’t look up.
"Since high school. I think I have all of those boring classes, like history and marketing to thank for my artistic ability. I doodled so much that I got better the more bored that I got," she said with a smile. Jacob found himself staring at her face. She really was beautiful and when she smiled, she was even more beautiful, her dimples deepening the deeper her smile became.
Maria pushed a strand of loose hair behind her ear and looked up to see Jacob staring at her. She frowned. "You paint your nails?" she asked.
"You just noticed?" he asked back.
"Yes. Is that a rebellious thing or are you trying to get in touch with your feminine side?" Maria regretted that the minute she had said it. Jacob smiled, though.
"I like to paint them. No real reason," he said. Maria dropped it and continued to draw. Jacob certainly was…different. He stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the guys. "Let me see," Jacob suddenly said. Maria looked at him again, confused. "Your drawing." Maria held up the notebook. It was a 3-D drawing of his guitar and every last detail was there. "You did that in, like, five minutes?" he asked. Maria nodded.
"I have a photographic memory, sort of. It’s like, I can remember specific details about something after having seen it for only a short period of time," she said.
"Yet, you didn’t notice that I paint my fingernails?" he asked. Maria shrugged.
"I didn’t say that I was very observant," she replied. He laughed and started playing the guitar riff to Green Day’s "Time Of Your Life." "I love that song," Maria remarked.
"You really don’t know any of our music?" Jacob asked her.
"I know your new song, ‘All Or Nothing.’ I saw the video on TRL, remember?" Jacob nodded.
"And? What do you think?" he asked, not knowing why he cared what she thought of their video.
"It isn’t bad. I like the song," Maria answered, going back to her picture.
"That’s good because I was really worried that you would hate it," Jacob said sarcastically. Ashley came back over to the bed and put his cell phone away. ‘Good,’ Maria thought, confused by Jacob’s sudden mood swing. Ashley sat back down onto the bed. Maria ripped the picture from her notebook and put it down beside her on the bed.
"Sorry about that," Ashley said.
"No problem. You guys mustn’t get to talk to your families much, huh?" Maria said.
"Actually, we talk to them more than we see them. With the time difference, mom doesn’t know what time it is," Ashley said, laughing.
"And you’re from…?" Maria asked.
"Oh. I’m from Redding, California," he answered, watching as Maria wrote that down.
"I haven’t been to California in a long time," she told him.
"We’re gonna go there next month, so you’ll get there again," Ashley said. "It’ll be fun to go home again, at least for me, Jake and Trevor."
"The three of you are from California?" Maria asked, glancing at Jacob, who was no longer paying attention to the conversation.
"Yeah, Jacob’s from El Cajon, which is near San Diego and Trevor’s from Rancho Cucamonga," Ashley told her. Maria jotted that information down so that she wouldn’t have to get it later.
An hour later, the interview was over. Maria had just wanted to get some background information, but since she had Ashley talking, she just kept going. His whole profile was now done. Jacob had fallen asleep and Dan entered the room, surprised to see Ashley and Maria sitting on the bed talking.
"How late is it?" Maria asked, looking at her watch. When she saw that it was midnight, she jumped up. "Oh, God. I didn’t mean to drag out this interview." Ashley stood up.
"It’s okay," he said.
"Yeah, don’t run out on my account," Dan told her as he went over to his cot.
"No, I have to go. Thanks, Ashley," Maria said as he walked her to the door. She glanced at Jacob, who appeared to be sleeping deeply.
"You’re welcome. I bet you’re glad that it’s done," he said with a smile.
"Right. One down, four to go," she said as she walked back to her room. Ashley laughed and closed the door. He went over to his bed.
"So, what kinds of questions did she ask?" Dan asked him.
"Different ones. She actually made me think," Ashley replied, looking pained. Dan laughed. Ashley picked up the picture that Maria had drawn.
"She’s amazing. She must’ve drawn this while I was talking to my mom. I wasn’t even on the phone very long," he said. Dan went over to see the picture.
"You left her alone with Jacob?" he asked. Ashley looked over at Jacob.
"Yeah, but it looks like they survived," he said. Dan took the picture and put it on the nightstand beside Jacob’s bed. He then went to the bathroom to change. Ashley sat down on his bed. He didn’t know why Jacob was making things difficult for Maria, and he had a sinking feeling that it was going to get worse before it got better.
Maria entered her room and saw Susan reading a book in her bed. Alex didn’t appear to be in the room at all.
"Where’s Alex?" Maria asked as she dug a Snickers bar out of her bag.
"I think she went to hang out somewhere. I guess I’m too boring for her. How did the interview go?" Susan asked. Maria sat down on her bed and bit into her candy bar.
"Good, actually. I’ve finished with Ashley. Next up is Erik. I think once the profiles are done, it’ll get easier…I’ll just have the group interview and the photo shoots to worry about," she said.
"Is Jacob giving you any trouble?" Susan then asked. Maria frowned.
"Why would he?"
"Well, after what he overheard you say on the bus, I would think that he would be a little upset," Susan said.
"He wasn’t really bothered at all. At least that’s the way that he appeared. He actually told me that he understood. I don’t know if I believe him, but I’m not gonna dwell on what he thinks anyway," Maria said as she got up and headed for the bathroom, still eating her candy bar. Susan sighed. Something was up with Jacob and she intended to find out what it was.