I woke up at 2:41AM. Figures. I seem to have a habit of waking up at weird hours of the night. I reached over to my nightstand to check my phone. Eleven new messages and four missed calls. That's what I get for the one time I put my phone on silent. Everything was from my best friend Rachelle telling me her usual nightly gossip, except for two texts from my boyfriend Cameron saying he was "sorry" again and he "loves me." Well, I love you too but "I'm sorry" is getting real old.

In all seriousness, I love Cameron so much. He was my best friend before we started dating. I've known him since I was thirteen and he means the world to me. I don't like the fights we've been getting into recently but for the sake of our relationship I'm looking past them. I know he's under a lot of pressure with family trouble and trying to make it big with his band but sometimes I think he doesn't understand that I'm stressed too. I have more family problems than he does and I'm also trying to make a name for myself in music.

I dropped out of school when I was fourteen to become a singer. So far, so good. Sure I'm nothing big right now, but I've gotten far enough to work with professional producers in Los Angeles, New York and Nashville and record some originals. I have a small fan base but I'm okay with that right now. It takes time. His band has a lot bigger group of fans than I do. They've been touring for the past few years. I'm really proud of them and I'm happy for him. It's awesome to see him doing what he loves. To some extent, I'm slightly jealous because he's got more fans and gets to tour more than I do, but at the end of the day, we're both just regular kids who stay up all night watching Friends reruns, eating ice cream, and worrying about how we're going to get on with our lives.

We both still live with our parents even though I'm eighteen and he's twenty two. We spend most of our money paying producers and studios to record our music and in result, we can't afford to move out and get our own places.

I used to not mind living with my parents but my mom took up alcohol when I was eleven and life's not been the same since. I dread going home usually and I always end up calling Cameron when I need to cry about whatever horrible thing my mom said to me that time. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom like crazy, but when she has a glass, she turns into a completely different person. I've begged her for years to stop drinking but she won't. She can't admit she has a problem and usually doesn't remember the ridiculous fights we have because of it. I know my mom cares for me and supports me but that doesn't really make up for the way she treats me the rest of the time.

I heard my phone buzz and recognized a text from my friend Danielle. I don't know if I should call her my friend anymore. I've known her since eighth grade and when I first met her she was a total bitch and I tried my best to avoid her. I didn't see her for a couple years after I dropped out of school until we ran into each other one day and she had a totally different personality. She was suddenly really nice. She was still fairly sarcastic, but not at all like she used to be. I was shocked at the way she'd changed, but we quickly became close friends and for awhile I considered her my best friend.

Ever since she found out I was dating Cameron though, she changed her attitude. She really hated him and had no reason to. He never did anything to her. Hell, he didn't even hardly know her! But she was dead set on convincing me to break up with him and date one of his band mates, Zach. I ignored the idea because, one, that's just stupid, and two, I didn't really get along with his band mates anyway. I was happy with Cameron and I guess she just couldn't look passed what she thought was "best for me."

Every time we spoke now, the conversation always focused on my relationship with Cam, and it was really getting on my nerves. There's only so many times your "friend" can tell you to break up with your boyfriend before you flip. I think the reason Cameron and I have been arguing a lot lately though is really Danielle's fault because we're both so annoyed over her constant nagging for us to break up. It's causing us relationship drama. Well, that and I think we're both just really stressed about everything else going on in our lives that we just take it out on each other. Either way, I don't like it.

I read her text. "Do you wanna go to the mall today?"

Today was Saturday. I was getting tired of spending every other weekend at the mall with her. We lived in a boring city where there wasn't much to do and when you pair the same activity with a girl who only talks about the same subject every single time you hang out, it gets old. But I had nothing better to do and frankly I'd rather put up with her just so I could get out of the house.

"Sure. What time?" I texted back.

"Around noon?"

"Can we make it eleven? You take forever to get ready in the morning and I have to be home by four."

"Okay. I'll pick you up at eleven."

I rolled over in bed and tried to go back to sleep. No luck. I ended up poking around on Facebook and Twitter til morning and then took a quick shower before Danielle showed up, late as usual. We spent about three hours walking around the mall. I bought two t-shirts at Hot Topic and then we went across the street to Olive Garden for lunch. While we were waiting on our food, Danielle decides now is a good time to bring up the subject of... you guessed it... Cameron!

"So when are you gonna dump Cameron?" she says casually.

"I'm not planning on it," I answered, slightly annoyed. "Why do you hate him so much?"

"He was a dick to me."

"When?"

"You guys didn't tell me you were dating and I had to find out on Facebook. When I asked why you didn't tell me, he said you guys didn't want me to know."

"He's right. But it wasn't just you. We didn't want hardly anyone to know cause we like keeping our relationship private. It's less drama," I replied.

"Whatever. He was rude the way he said it."

"I saw what he said in the comments. I don't think he was rude. I even talked to him about it and he said he didn't mean it that way."

"Well he's lying," she quickly accused.

"Ugh. You guys have got to get along. The point is, you hate him over a misunderstanding. He even apologized to you, which he didn't have to do, and you wouldn't accept," I pointed out, frustrated.

"Whatever. I don't like him."

I let the conversation drop there. I was tired of trying to convince her that my boyfriend wasn't the asshole she assumed he was. We went on to discuss our family trouble. She came from a broken home with an alcoholic mom and I came from a dysfunctional home with an alcoholic mom. At least we could relate and support each other over that.

The bill came and she used her debit card to pay since she said it was her treat. Lord knows it should be, as many times as I pay for all her shit. She owes me. Naturally, she didn't have enough money in her bank account and I ended up having to put it on my card just so we could get the hell out of there without having to clean dishes or something stupid for the restaurant since she couldn't pay. Alright, add thirty seven bucks to what she already owes me. That's at least a few hundred.

After that, we went over to Guitar Center and I looked at straps and checked out a white electric hollow body Epiphone Les Paul. I have a black electric Epiphone Les Paul at home that's a full body. I really liked the way the wood was cut into a cool design on this guitar and I was hoping to buy a new guitar soon so I could start a collection. I couldn't afford the five hundred right now though so I just gawked at it until we left. I got home around four thirty and got yelled at by my parents for being thirty minutes late even though I explained to them the traffic is what held us up. Really, for being such a boring city, you'd be amazed at how similar our traffic is to Los Angeles.

I went to my room to start packing my carry-on for tomorrow. I was flying to New York City in the morning to meet up with Cameron and his band who were playing a couple concerts there the next two nights. I was looking forward to going back to New York. I didn't like it when I was younger but I've spent some time there over the past few years touring and working on music with a production company based in Manhattan and I'd grown to enjoy the city. I no longer saw it as trashy. I now looked at it as artistic and interesting. The skyline was captivating. I was also hoping to visit Rachelle while I was there. She had recently moved to Bronx with her boyfriend Keith.

I finished packing my carry-on and went to grab some fruit for dinner. I never ate much anymore nowadays. When I quit school, I spent a lot of time at home being bored so I ate a lot and gained about thirty pounds so now I really watch my weight and I've lost about twenty. I stayed up til about 2AM writing a couple new songs and playing guitar. That was my favorite pastime. After I got into bed I texted Cameron.

"My flight lands at one. Are you picking me up?" I asked.

"Yeah baby, I'll be there," he replied.

"I'm going to bed now. I love you."

"I love you too baby. See you tomorrow :)"

I was really looking forward to seeing him. My favorite thing in the world was the feeling I got from being in his arms. Cameron made me feel safe. He made me feel like nothing could touch me and I loved that. I laid in bed mentally picturing what it was going to be like to see him the next day until I finally fell asleep.

I woke up to my phone blasting One Direction's 'What Makes You Beautiful' as my alarm ringtone. I let it repeat a couple times until it annoyed me enough to roll over and turn it off. I glanced to the clock on my bookshelf. 4:20AM. I groaned and threw the covers off me. I had a love/hate relationship with early mornings. I went to the bathroom and did my usual quick routine of brushing my hair and teeth so I could add my hair brush and toothbrush to my carry-on and then slipped on some jeans and a sweatshirt over my tank top. I gathered my things and went to the kitchen to grab a breakfast burrito to go.

My parents were already up making coffee, watching the morning news and reading the paper. I took my bag out to my dad's truck and went back in the house to nag him that I was ready to go. My flight was at 6AM and it took thirty minutes to drive to the airport and thirty more to get through airport security, even at 5AM. We were a boring city, but we did have a very busy international airport.

I hugged my mom and we exchanged our "I love you's" and I was ready to roll. Dad and I headed off to the airport. I was really psyched to get on the plane and get the heck out of here. Not that I didn't like my hometown, but I just really loved traveling and I hated being idle. If I wasn't driving or flying a lot, I got really restless.

We stopped under the United Airlines sign. My dad handed me my bag and we hugged before I went on my way to go to airport security.

"Be careful. I love you!" my dad yelled as he was getting back into his car.

"I will. Love you too!" I hollered back, walking into the airport.

I had to walk halfway across the airport to get to security. Surprisingly, there weren't many people there yet. I showed the agent my boarding pass and ID and went on to go through the metal detectors and baggage screening. I collected my bag, put my shoes back on and headed for the terminal.

Luckily, they were on time this morning and I was so happy to hear the boarding agent call United flight 1384 to Chicago. I waited for zone one to board until I could board. It took about twenty minutes until we left the runway. That was probably my favorite part. I loved the cool feeling of the plane speeding down the runway as it departed into the air. It always made my stomach flip but I enjoyed it. I loved having a window seat too. If I didn't book window seats on every flight, I think I'd hate it.

Two hours later we landed in Chicago, one of my favorite cities. I was only here for about an hour though to catch the connecting flight to JFK. I wish I could stay in Chicago longer. A little while later and we were in the air again. A couple more hours and we landed in New York City. I always loved the view of the city while flying over. It was the coolest thing. I couldn't wait to get off the plane and go find Cameron though.

I walked through two concourses until I found the baggage claim. I didn't need to claim any baggage but I figure this would be a good place to sit and wait for him since the arriving flights pick up was right outside. I sat around awkwardly for about fifteen minutes until I saw a red Chevy Silverado pull up outside. I walked over to the windows to see if it was who I thought it was and I literally jumped for joy when I saw the California license plate. I grabbed my bag and ran outside.

"Cameron!" I yelled as I ran into his arms. He'd barely gotten out of the truck before I tackled him against the door. He threw his arms around me and kissed me. I was so thrilled to see him. Three weeks is three weeks too long.

"I missed you so much," he smiled, pulling back from the kiss.

"I love you," I said, leaning my head against his chest. "I missed you like hell."

"It's been hell without you baby. I'm glad you're here safe. Let's go get some lunch," he smiled, pulling away from me to throw my bag into the back seat.

We hopped in the truck and headed to Times Square for food. The traffic, as usual, was horrible and it took forever to find a place to park.

We stopped at TGI Friday's and I was looking forward to eating something since I'd only had a breakfast burrito about nine hours ago. The place was packed, it being lunchtime, so we got our lunch to go. I ordered my usual: a barbeque pulled pork sandwich and a strawberry lemonade. He got some gigantic burger and we headed back out to the truck. We decided to drive over to Central Park and eat there. Once we got there, we found a bench in an area of the park where there weren't so many people and sat down to eat. It was so relaxing. It was a cloudy chilly day. The cool breeze felt great and I was enjoying being surrounded by three of my favorite things. You can't go wrong with food, nature and a cute guy, right?

We mostly ate in silence until he spoke up."I can't wait for you to see us play tonight," he grinned, referring to his band's concert.

"I know. It's been too long," I agreed.

"After we finish here, I've gotta go to the venue and help the guys set up all the amps and that kinda stuff. Do you wanna come with me? Or I can drop you off at the hotel," he said, taking a swig of his coke.

"I'd probably be bored to death at the hotel. I'll come help you guys with the set," I answered.

"Cool by me," he smiled, throwing his to-go box in the trashcan, followed by mine.

We walked back to the truck hand in hand, enjoying the weather. Central Park always kinda creeped me out a bit but if you went there on a day like this in the afternoon, it was really peaceful.

Driving to the venue, we passed the time by singing along to every song that came on the radio. Right now it was Katy Perry's 'Teenage Dream.' I was having a great time. The song ended, we stopped singing and Edwin McCain's 'I'll Be' came on. This was one of my favorite songs in the world but I couldn't sing the chorus for crap so I stayed quiet, enjoying the music, and watching the buildings pass by.