THE PAST - 8 years ago

Jen

The sun is at its peak in the sky tormenting us with its blazing heat. Living in Florida you think I should be used to the heat but it hits me fresh every summer. The state is in the middle of a heat wave so being outside has become unbearable. Except for today, I will endure because my new friends and I have slept for two days on the sidewalk in front of the stadium.

We have general admission tickets which means it's a first come first chance to nab the front row. There is currently only one other group of friends ahead of us and tons of people behind us.

Luckily the shop next door lets us use their bathroom as long as we keep buying stuff. I have to go in a pair because I have no money to spend. Luckily I brought my bottle to refill my water at the soda fountain.

"Oh my god, there's his bus driving by," Rita says screeching. As soon as she says that the other girls are jumping to their feet waving.

Like Floridian clockwork, the rain starts to downpour instantly. The girls are shrieking trying to get under the building awning. I'm too busy with my head tilting up eyes shut and arms out enjoying the relief of the rain. Every raindrop is cooling off my overheated body. Bringing so much sense of relief all I can do is smile.

Lucas

Driving by the stadium I saw her... Her hair is a golden ray of sunshine in a gloom of gray clouds. The peacefulness on her face as the rain fell on it made her even more beautiful. My eyes could not stop looking at her until we passed her and she was gone.

Looking over at Stan who is currently playing a game on his phone. It's this game where you collect puppies and take care of them. It's funny and adorable seeing as how Stan has a tough guy persona. Hearing all the puppy noises just makes it cuter.

"Stan, I'm going undercover and I want you to come with me. So you need to go undercover too. The fans know you by now."

"I hate when you do this. I'm always dreading the time you get caught. It's going to be horrendous." Stan grumbles deeply.

"We haven't gotten caught yet. I think it's humorous to go around my fans and see how they will react to me."

My manager Brian immediately starts talking anxiously, "I can't have you go out there. Eventually, it's just going to cause trouble and I will have to be the one cleaning up the mess." Brian ends with an aggravated tone.

"Well I'm going out there and that's the end of it." I hate having to throw my power around but I don't want to be forced into living a certain way. I want my freedom of choice. I've lost a great deal of my choice but I knew what I was getting into. I won't let Brian have power over me. I'm his boss, not the other way around.

Gathering my clothes and fake hair, beard, make-up glue, hat, and sunglasses I get ready in the bathroom. I step out and then into the living room portion of the bus. Immediately Stan starts dying laughing. "You look so ridiculous. It gets worse and worse every time."

Brian looks me up and down. "You look like a hobo." He wrinkles his nose.

I look down at myself. I'm wearing a long-sleeved black shirt with holes in it and stains on the front. A pair of loose tan shorts also with brown spots of stains on them and sandals. I didn't take my shower yet so I'm also kinda stinky. I don't think I look like a hobo just a smelly messy guy.

"Your turn, Stan." I grin at him.

Stan mumbles to himself grumpily as he walks by to get his stuff. All I could make out was "What is this Halloween?" sarcastically as he passed.

Grabbing my phone I head outside of the bus. The underground of the stadium is full of concrete and no windows. It's kinda suffocating. I stretch my body because I've been sitting on that bus for a while. Noticing the elevator in the distance I walk over to it and wait for Stan to come out.

Stan makes his way out of the bus and I start laughing. He jogs over to me. I press the button for the elevator to come. "If I look like a hobo you look like a surfer." I laugh again.

Instead of his short dark black hair, he has bright blonde medium-length hair. He has on a pair of dark sunglasses, a baseball cap, a fake mustache, sandals, flowery pink board shorts, and a white tank top. Usually, Stan is always covered in a black suit and boots.

"Yuck it up, keep it up and I'll kick your ass," Stan says while nudging my shoulder playfully.

I hold my hands up in the air as if I'm saying 'I don't want my ass kicked.'

The elevator shows up and it smells awful kinda like piss. I pinch my nose and look over to Stan and he's doing the same thing. We smile at each other. Stan is the closest thing I have to a best friend. I don't know if he feels the same or if it's just a job for him but I enjoy his company.

Exiting the elevator the heat hits me like a punch in the face from a champion boxer. I prefer the cold. I was born in a small town in Maine where the cold is the norm. Florida is pretty and has a ton of fun things to do here in Orlando but the heat... It kills me.

I'm starting to get a nervous feeling in my stomach about seeing her in person. I wonder what type of person she is and what kind of things she likes. Will we have something in common will she even talk to me in this outfit?

Walking down the sidewalk I can see her in the distance. As I get closer I can see she is smiling and laughing freely with her head tilted back. Her whole body seems to change when she is humored. Bright cobalt blue eyes shimmer in the sunlight making them sparkle beautifully.

She's wearing a white eyelet-laced sun dress that comes up to the middle of her slightly tanned thighs. She looks a little too thin than she should be. A pair of white ankle-high sneakers are on her feet. Her long flowing golden blonde hair falls to the middle of her back. A few strands on each side are pulled back into barrettes.

I could say with certainty that her face could rival that of Aphrodite's. I'm admiring her sunkissed cheeks that have pronounced cheekbones near the outer corner of her eyes. Her nose and chin are perfectly pointed and her strong jaw is the feature that stands out the most from her face.

But her lips are the show stopper they are plump and are a flawless shade of pink. They look perfect for my lips to rest upon. Seeing her close up the best way I can describe her is astonishingly exquisite.

I walk over to her looking around like I'm lost. "Excuse me?" I ask in a deep tone. Upon hearing me she looks up. "Do you..." Her friends are loud so she puts up a finger saying one minute.

She comes over to me and smiles genuinely. "It says the diner I want to go to is supposed to be here. Can you point me in the direction where it is?"

"Oh you mean Rosie's diner?" Her voice is like a sweet melody. It's innocent and pure sounding.

"Why are you talking to those losers?" The other girl's words come out harshly. If she only knew who I was she would be so embarrassed.

"What the fuck Rita." The girl I find beautiful scolds her friend. She turns back around and ignores her.

"Yeah, Rosie's Diner," I say not even knowing what I'm talking about. I just randomly thought of something to ask her.

"Oh," Her face looks sad for me. "They tore the diner down to build this stadium."

"The best thing they could have done the place was a shithole. For poor people to eat at." Says Rita rudely.

"What are you talking about the food there was amazing." The beautiful one says to Rita. Rita's face gets red from anger. It's obvious she's not used to being challenged.

"Exactly Jen, you're poor so it's obvious you would like it. You don't know any better about how good food tastes like." Rita snubs her nose into the air.

She turns back around and whispers "I am so sorry." Her face looks like she is disgusted at Rita's reactions. Jen moves closer to me so that her friends can no longer hear the conversation. She is so close to me that her shoulder is almost touching mine. I can tell she is not afraid to be near me. It almost seems like she likes it. Even with me in all this. Maybe she sees potential in me even in this.

Stan starts to move forward but I motion for him to back off. I can hear him breathe out heavily.

"There is a great diner down the street though. Just up that way." She points back to where I came from. "It's called Molly's Malt shop. The ice cream is so incredible and the fried food is good too."

"Alright thanks, I also need to get to my hotel. Do you know where the 'Dexton Square' hotel is?" It's an expensive hotel and she doesn't even hesitate or react like she doesn't believe I'm staying there.

"Yeah, it's three blocks straight past the diner. Take a left go down one block and then take a right onto the main road and go down two blocks. You won't miss it. It's a beautiful building."

I take my phone out as if to take down directions. "I tried to look up both on my phone but they didn't show up."

"Yeah, the diner was destroyed and the hotel moved to a better location just recently. So if your maps didn't update you wouldn't have seen it. Nor would the browser give you accurate information. Since it was so recent." She nods her head while trying to retain eye contact even if she can't through my sunglasses. This just shows she is respectful and nice.

"Could you put the directions in my phone? I already forgot." I make my face look sheepish.

"Sure," She smiles at me and tries to take my phone but I fumble it on purpose. It falls to the ground with a crack. "Oh fuck, I'm so sorry," She takes the blame for my mistake.

"What a fucking moron, he can't even hold a phone," Rita says rudely and all the girls in the area laugh.

"What the fuck, Rita! Just because your dad is rich doesn't mean you can treat people like this."

"If it wasn't for my father you wouldn't have your ticket. So give it back." Holding her hand out she waits for her to hand it over.

"No, it was a gift. In a court of law, you wouldn't even be able to take it back." Jen ignores her again and turns back to me.

"Again, I'm so sorry." She picks the phone back up and there's a fracture in it. "Fuck, I can pay you back slowly for this phone. It will take me a while but we can make arrangements." Opening the notepad app on my phone she writes down the directions and her name and number. Then hands the phone back to me. Our hands brush each other and I feel a zap going through my fingertips all the way through the rest of my body and out my toes. I hear her audibly gasp which means that maybe she felt it too.

As I go to take the phone I notice her eyes starting to get wide. Oh shit, she knows. "These girls are fanatics and will cause a riot. I suggest next time covering the one small mole right below your thumb." She points and touches it gently.

"How did you even know by that small of a feature? They usually photo shop it out." I say shocked. I look down at my thumb curious about how she could have picked up on it.

"I notice a lot of things." She smiles at me again. "Again I'll pay for the phone. Just contact me and we can set it up."

"The phone was my fault. No need to repay me." I look into her eyes one more time she is so caring, genuine, and absolutely gorgeous.

"It's so funny I thought you were cute even through all this stuff. I just knew you were special." She laughs to herself and shakes her head.

"Well, good luck finding the hotel." She says loudly for all her friends to hear. Turning away from me she goes and sits back down. The fact that she somewhat dismissed me leaves me flabbergasted. I'm stunned in place watching her my brain not catching up with the fact I should move. Stan pushes me on the way to where we came from.

Instead, I brush off Stan and I walk over to her grab her hand to pull her up. She is hesitant at first but then she gives in and stands. Her hand is so soft the connection sends a pleasurable feeling in my body I've never felt before. "You have been so nice to me," I say in an unrecognizable deep tone. "Would you like to meet Lucas King?"

"You're letting us meet Lucas King?" Rita starts to get excited. "That is so kind of you." She says sweetly.

"No, only Jen," I say roughly.

"It's probably a ploy to get her alone and rape her," Rita says disgustedly.

"What the fuck is wrong with you Rita? You just don't say that kind of thing about someone." Jen's face looks so humiliated. "I would love to meet him. Let's go."

"Find your own way home then. We're not waiting for you." Rita says harshly.

Jen stops in her tracks. "I have no other way home." She whispers to me.

"Don't worry we will get you home." I start to pull her hand bringing her with me to the front door Rita is leaning on. "Could you get out of the way we need to get in," I tell her even though there are other doors I could have gone through.

Rita points to the other doors. "Go to one of those."

"No, I want this one," I say while starting to pull it open and forcing our way in. Rita tries resisting but I overpower her. Stan pushes it all the way open so she falls to the side and is pinned.

The doors are pitch black blocking the outside so there's no seeing in. The second set of doors is the same. I knock on the door. A worker walks over to us and opens the door. "We can't let anyone in early." I pull my sunglasses off and some of my fake beard. "I'm Lucas King in disguise. Let us in."

"Oh--Oh, of course, Mr. King." The guy lets us through and I never stop holding her hand even all the way backstage.