I'm Not Losing You
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A Story of Dedication to Those I Love
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Each of them greeted me with a hug, and Justin whispered in my ear,
“You looked like you were going to pass out, and we had to get you out of there.” He definitely looked concerned. I nodded and said thank you. Lucas took the job of introducing me, and then the song.
“Well, now who do we have here?” He stuck the microphone in my face and I answered.
“Mya.” I said, smiling, and trying not to laugh at them for having to ask me my name.
“Well Mya, have a seat.” Lucas said, pointing to a stool that they had brought out on stage for me. I sat myself on the stool, being careful not to fall off and make a fool of myself. I smiled, and looked out at the crowd of people staring at me. I wondered how the guys could do this day after day. It was impressive.
“We have a little something special for you…” they said to me. “This next song means a lot to us, it was the song that really got our name out there, and we want to share how special it is with all of you. It’s called “Eyes Closed So Tight” and it goes a little something like this…” and the track started. Sitting up there, I kind of felt like an idiot, but so calm all at the same time. It was that feeling of embarrassment that just slaps a smile on your face that you can’t control. I’m sure it’s happened to each one of you at one time or another. You know, when you do something that’s just so incredible, but your friends will still pick fun at you to this day. That’s how it felt to me. I knew I would never hear the end of it, and each time I will hear that story, my face will turn a strange shade of red. But I tried not to think about that. Their voices and emotion captured my attention totally and I focused on nothing but them. The crowd disappeared and the sound of their shrieks completely died in my mind. All I could see were Justin, Lucas and Jackie, and all I could hear were their voices singing to me. The only thing I could feel was when one of them would take my hand and sing to me. The whole moment, though I remember each moment, went by like a blur. It was so fast, and like that, it was over. I stood up, gave each one of them a big hug and thanked them for what they did. Still smiling, I was escorted off stage by security. They took me through the back because it would have been impossible to go back the way I came. Walking off, I saw Erik. I yelled to him and waved. He waved back and changed his walking direction, now coming towards me.
“You know that whole thing was not planned.” He said to me.
“Yeah, I kind of figured that when Justin said that they don’t normally do that.” I giggled.
“Tell me about it. I heard Justin say that, and I nearly had a heart attack. I was like, what is going on out there?! I’m asking the whole crew if they knew what was going on, I’m looking through the notes here, and I was totally lost. I was about to freak out, but then I saw it was you up there and I just laughed instead.” He seemed quite laid back for once. Usually when I see him at something like this, he’s running around stressing about every little thing.
“Haha, yeah, it was great though. I owe them BIG!” I said in return. He just smiled and laughed a little bit.
“Well, I’ll see you later. Have a great time out there for the rest of the show.”
“You too…or at least try to!” I said, mocking him a little bit.
“Yeah, I’ll try!” He yelled back as he was walking away.
Security led me back out to my seat, and I finally saw the rest of my crew. They had all of their stuff on my chair so no one would try to sneak up into my seat. I yelled that I was back, and they let me return to my spot. The show was still going on, so I don’t think they even heard what I had said. My attention was once again fixed on the guys for the last part of the show. They were just about to launch into the a cappella version of “Go-Get-Her” to close the show. With how many times I’ve seen this show, you would think I was a little bit sick of it, but no. I was anything but sick of it. It’s just as exciting to see this show the seven hundredth time as it is to see it the first time. Before I knew it, I could hear the familiar bars of “Oh Boy” leading straight into the pony. Ah the pony. Everyone’s favorite part! If you don’t smile at the pony, there is something wrong with you. The crowd went absolutely nuts! Justin, Lucas and Jackie’s smiles were lighting up the stage all on their own. I was amazed with them, as I was every time I see them. By the end of the show, I could see the sweat dripping off of their faces. It was hot in here, no doubt.
“Thank you all so much for coming!” Justin said. “Once again, this is Lucas, over here we’ve got Jackie, and my name is Justin…” the screams were incredible. Nearly enough to burst an eardrum. “…and we are Vi3!” and they took a bow.
“Once again we just want to thank each and every one of you not only for coming out and supporting us, but for being a Vi3 Girl member. You have all done so much, this is the least we can do to return the favor. Thank you all so much and we promise we’ll be back very soon!” Jackie said. Meanwhile, Lucas took a sip of his water, and dumped a little bit into the crowd, just to be a dork. I heard Rachel yell to me that she wanted a towel, when each one pulled one off of the speaker on the side of the stage. I smiled and said that if I catch one, it’s MINE! Not like either of us were going to, but it was worth talking about. Lucas wiped his forehead with his towel, and threw it out into the crowd on his side of the stage about ten rows back…the opposite side that we were on. Jackie dabbed the back of his neck and face with his, and threw it right out into the middle. The girl that caught it nearly got trampled because she dropped it at first. It was kind of scary. Justin was last, and as usual, he was a tease. He ran to one side, saw how loud they were, ran back to the other side, did the same, and then just stood in the middle for a second. He wiped his face with it and held it up. The screams were almost unbearable. But regardless, I raised my arms up just like the rest of the crowd, hoping that he would toss it my way. Sure enough, he threw it up, let go and it sailed right in my direction. Ten other girls jumped up and tried to grab it, but guess what. I beat them all to it, and just frankly jumped higher. I grabbed it out of the air and whipped it down, clutching it to my shirt so no one would get at it. I got some nasty looks from the girls around me that I didn’t know, but I didn’t care. One girl had the guts to say to me,
“Hey, you went up on stage with them. Bitch, give it to someone else like me!” I shot her a nasty look and said,
“Well if you really wanted it, you would have jumped higher and faster. Hell no I’m not giving this to anyone. And if for some reason I do decide to, it will be someone I KNOW. Not someone giving me attitude.” She scowled at me and went back to talking to her friends.
“Let me smell it!” Rachel said. It sounds gross doesn’t it? But I knew what she was going for. And it wasn’t the smell of sweat. “Ahhh!” She said as she took a deep breath and smiled at the scent. I did the same, because I too could smell it. Sam did the same as well, and screamed out,
“Ah! He wore the Jean Paul!” Yes, that was what the scent lingering in the fabric was. I laughed at her and said,
“Yeah, I could have told you that one! I did smell it up there…”
“Oh shut up!” She laughed.
Trying to get out of a Vi3 show was nearly as difficult (if not more difficult) than trying to survive in the front row. Everyone was pushing to make their way out, and you were nervous that you were going to lose a purse, or a shoe or a left toe. It must have taken us fifteen minutes just to get out of the show. I was holding the towel close to me, because some girls still had the nerve to grab at it.
“God! Some of you are just plain vicious!” I screamed into the air. I was not in the mood to put up with any obsessive teenies right now. I had a great time, but some people just make me so upset. I tried to take a deep breath as I walked out the door. But with so many people around, that was difficult. However, once I got out the door and into the fresh air, I was able to breathe again.
“I’m starving. Can we stop and get something to eat?” Samantha decided to ask.
“Same with me.” Said Rachel. I can honestly say that all of us were pretty hungry. We just decided to go on over to the Rock N Roll McDonalds and grab a bite to eat.
“Oh please don’t let it be crowded…” I thought to myself as we got out of the car. We strolled inside, and it wasn’t bad, so I was kind of excited. I was still clutching that towel, because there was NO WAY I was going to leave that outside. Nope. Not a chance. As we walked in, I put it in my purse to keep it out of sight…and so I wouldn’t get food on it. I got my usual order, and I sat down to eat with Rachel and her mom. We were still waiting for Sam. For once, the fries were cooked just the way I liked them. So I felt the need to throw myself a little party.
“Woo hoo! They cooked my fries the right way!”
“Wow. You are such a dork.” Sam said as she was finally sitting down. All of us were feeling a little bit better now that we had something to eat. Especially me. I didn’t feel like I was going to pass out anymore. As we all ate, we were talking about how much fun everything had been today, despite a few rude people. But isn’t that the way it is? There’s always something that keeps a good time from being perfect, but when you look back at it, no matter how bad of an experience you had with Vi3, it was a good day. At least that’s how I see things.
We finished our food and piled back into the car. I was about ready to go home. I was staring out the car window when my phone rang.
“Ugh, who is it now?” I asked, searching through my purse for my phone. “Hello?”
“Hi, Melissa?”
“Yes…”
“Hey, this is Lisa from Charlotte Russe.”
“Oh, hi. What’s up?” I asked. Lisa decided to tell me that she absolutely needed someone to work tomorrow, and that I was all that was left.
“But I’m at home right now, and I work at my other job during the holidays.”
“I know you do, but we are DESPERATE! Everyone called off because they were sick and the only ones here are me and Jey. I feel bad asking you, but you’re kind of our last hope here.” How could I say no? She was absolutely desperate for help, and I was desperate for money. And if you know me, you know I have a hard time saying no to someone like that.
“Yeah, I guess I could come in tomorrow. What time though?”
“Just 4:00 until closing. Is that ok?”
“Can we make it 4:30?”
“Yeah, I guess so. So you’ll do it?”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll be there around 4:30.” I hung up the phone and let out a big scream. I really didn’t want to have to drive all the way to Bloomingdale to work at my school year job in the middle of my Christmas break. That’s why I work another job during Christmas, so I don’t have to drive back and forth.
“Ugh, apparently I have to work at Stratford tomorrow.” I said to my car full of people.
“Ew, why?” Sam asked.
“Because no one else can. But I don’t work there during Christmas, so what is the deal? This totally sucks.” And it did.
“Well, maybe you can watch for Justin?” Rachel suggested.
“Ha, see now that would be an option if he EVER went shopping anymore.” I laughed. I put my head against the car window and took a short nap until we got to my house.
Driving down 83 to Stratford was not the way I was hoping to spend my day. I was looking forward to spending some quality time with my pillows and blankets and napping throughout the day. But no. I was on my way to work. Traffic was horrible, and the roads were slippery. I saw cars swerving and sliding, and I was NOT in the mood to be driving around them. I finally made my exit at Lake Street and started cruising down the road to where I needed to turn. Eventually I got to the mall, and I was still a little bit early. I decided to just shop around for a little while before I had to be clocked in. Walking to Forever 21, I saw someone that looked kind of like Justin walking around the mall. I didn’t think much of it at first, because I highly doubt that he would be out shopping on a crowded day like today. I browsed around in Forever 21 for a little while, found a cute jacket that I just had to buy for the next show, and I checked my watch. It was just about time for me to get to work. I walked past Nu Trends next door to get to work, and I heard someone call out my name. I turned to my right to see where it was coming from, when I realized who it was. I suddenly saw a tall, thin figure walking towards me. It was, in fact, Justin. I was totally surprised and confused as to why he was shopping.
“Hey!” I said. “What are you doing here?”
He gave me a hug and laughed at my question. “Well, I had some shopping to do obviously. I think I should ask what you’re doing here. I thought you were at home for Christmas.”
“Well, I’m supposed to be. But Charlotte Russe called me in to work today because they desperately needed someone to work today and no one else could. That’s actually where I’m headed right now.” I said, glancing at my watch.
“Oh, ok, well then I’ll let you go. Have fun at work!”
“Yeah, I’ll try.” I said sarcastically. “Hey, if you get a chance, stop by before you go. Just say hey or something.”
“Sure. I’ll be sure I stop in. So I guess I’ll see you a little later.” He said.
“Of course. Bye hun!” I replied, giving him another hug and walking away to go to work. Strolling in the door, I noticed how it wasn’t as crowded as I had thought it would be. I thought to myself, “They needed extra help for THIS?” But I went ahead and slapped a smile on my face and got to work. About three hours into my shift, I was sent to the front to work zone 1 and greet everyone. As I’m folding a sweater on the front table, I hear a voice.
“I told you I’d come see you before I left.” I knew exactly who it was, obviously. I turned around to see him standing right behind me.
“Hey you! I thought you’d forget.” I laughed. When actually, in all honesty, I was the one who forgot. I was more than happy that he came though. He asked how my day was going, and I told him that it was actually quite boring. There really wasn’t much for me to do, so I was just people watching.
“Well since you’re bored, I guess I’ll talk to you then, huh?” He laughed.
“Aww you don’t have to if you’ve got to go.”
“No, I don’t have anywhere to be, so I was just going to chill here with you for a minute. Do you get a break soon?”
“Yeah, in like five minutes.” I replied.
“Well good. I’ll hang here until you get your break. How long do you get?” He asked.
“I think a thirty minute. I’m not sure though. I’ll check.” I replied. Just as I was turning around to go find out, I heard Lisa yell to me,
“Melissa, you can take your thirty minute now if you want to.”
“Well that solves that.” I said to Justin. “I’ll be right back, let me clock out first.” He waited patiently by the door for me. I watched as one girl approached him, obviously recognizing that he was Justin Roman from Vi3. He politely signed something for her, and she thanked him and went on her way. I just laughed. I remembered how that used to be me, way back in the beginning when I really didn’t know any of them. But boy has that all changed. I grabbed my purse and walked back over to Justin.
“Ready?” He asked me, smiling. I smiled back and nodded. I said that I just wanted to go get something to eat, and he agreed with me. “Yeah, I think I need something too.” The two of us walked out of the store, and we went over to get some food.
I sat down with my dinner, right across from where he would sit when he came back. Seconds after I sat, he did. The two of us just sat there and talked about all kinds of things for the time we had. I mentioned to him how great the show was the night before.
“I had a blast. You guys were so great, I loved every second of it.” I raved.
“Well we’re glad you had a good time. We thought maybe you wouldn’t because of the little situation we had with the pushing. Because I know how you can get when you’re cramped like that.”
“Well, besides that I had a good time.” I said. “Thanks by the way. Thanks for bringing me up there. I really was about to pass out until I got up there.”
“Well that was the idea. We didn’t want you to pass out, Mya. And all three of us could tell from the stage that you were kind of pale, and if we can tell from there, then we knew it had to be pretty bad.”
“Well you’re definitely right. But thank you.”
“No problem hun.” He smiled. I smiled back. “You know, my mom took some really nice pictures of you up there with us. I’ll have to show you them sometime.”
“Oh nice! I have to see them. Definitely!”
“Well, what are you up to tomorrow?”
“Nothing, why?” I asked. I was curious why he was asking, because he was obviously thinking something.
“Well why don’t I show you them tomorrow?”
“And how are you going to do that?” I was completely confused. He could tell from my face that I was a little lost. He laughed a little and said,
“What about I meet you somewhere for lunch or something? I mean, that’s only if you’re up for it.” Was his response. I was taken by surprise. I didn’t think he would ever suggest something like that.
“Y…Yeah,” I stuttered. “I’m up for it. What did you have in mind?”
“Oh I don’t know. Just something nearby I guess.” The two of us settled on a place nearby, and then I glanced at my watch.
“Well what time then? Because I’ve got to get back to work pretty soon.”
“How about around 2:00?” He suggested.
“2:00 is fine. I’ll see you tomorrow then!” I gave him a big smile. He just brightened my day. Not only did he stop by to see me at work, but he invited me to lunch for tomorrow. How sweet is he?
