Jenna

I wake up to a knocking on my door around eleven the next morning. I squint my eyes and look at my phone to see three missed calls from Tyler. I sit up quickly. Lunch with Fall Out Boy! I completely forgot!

I grab my bathrobe hanging on my bedpost and wrap it around me as I run to the door. I open it to seen Tyler, his fist raised to knock again.

"I'm so sorry!" I say in a rush. "I woke up at three this morning, then slept through my alarm because my phone was on vibrate and...and I completely forgot that the lunch was today! I'm so sorry!" I run my hands through my messy hair and stare at Tyler's black and white Vans.

He grabs my shoulders. "Hey, it's okay. You still have an hour to get ready. I was just worried because you weren't answering any of my calls or texts, so I decided to come and check on you. I'm just glad you're okay."

"Do you...do you want to come in?" I ask awkwardly.

"Sure," he replies.

I walk through my living room. "Um, here's my remote. You can watch something on Netflix if you want. Or you can eat something. I have food. I'm going to go shower."

"Okay, have fun!" Tyler says enthusiastically. I laugh and walk out of the room.

I glance at Tyler's reflection watching me in the bathroom mirror as I put on makeup. I insisted that he should sit on a chair instead of the edge of the hard bathtub if he was going to watch me, but he said it was fine.

"You don't really need all of that stuff," he says. "You're just as beautiful without it."

I shrug. "I like wearing it for myself just as much for me as I do for other people. So, what are these Fall Out Boys like?"

He facepalms. "First of all, don't call them that. They might cringe. Um...I've only met Pete at Fueled By Ramen's headquarters. He used to work for them. He's pretty nice. Although, I'm sure all of them are."

"How many members are there again?"

"Four. Patrick is the singer, Pete is the bassist, Joe is the main guitarist, and Andy is the drummer. They'll probably say that when they introduce themselves, though."

I nod. "Okay."

Tyler's phone rings, the iPhone's creepy Sci-Fi ringtone echoing through the bathroom. He smirks and answers. "Hey, Josh." I roll my eyes. Of course it's him. Who else would have the Sci-Fi ringtone? "Yeah, she's okay....Applebee's? Okay. We should be coming soon. Yeah. See ya."

"We're eating at Applebee's," Ty says after hanging up.

"Sounds great," I reply, adding the finishing touches to my hair. "I meant to look up a picture of the guys, but I didn't get the chance."

"Hang on." He looks back down at his phone. "Wait--you have an Instagram? I saw the notification."

"Yeah," I reply. "I've had one for a few months now."

"But I've looked for you on there before and couldn't find you."

"I just changed my username to match my actual name last night."

"Oh," he replies, nodding. "Anyways, here's a picture of the guys we'll be meeting." He flips his phone around to see four guys displayed on the screen: two shorter guys with light brownish hair and two taller guys with darker hair. Pretty much all of them have intimidating features.

"These guys look like they're apart of a motorcycle gang or something. Are you sure they won't beat me up?" I joke.

"I'll take the beating for you," Tyler says, grinning. "Nah, they wouldn't hurt flies. You'll like them."

"If you say so...," I reply, unconvinced.

Tyler holds the door open for Josh, Mark, and me as we walk into Applebee's. Josh talks to the greeter, explaining that we're meeting someone here until a dark-haired dude with a few tattoos starts waving at us wildly. Josh speed-walks over to him while Tyler, Mark and I follow behind at a slower pace.

Ty grabs my hand. "Remember, don't let these guys intimidate you. Be yourself. They'll like you. I promise."

I nod and pick up the pace until we get to the table, where Josh has already sat down and is talking to the dude that waved at us. Tyler pulls out a chair for me, which happens to be across from the guy that Josh is talking to. I think that's...Peter or something? Mark sits down on my right and Tyler on my left.

The dark-haired dude falls silent as one of his bandmates starts talking.

"Hey guys, thanks so much for coming," the bandmate says, flipping his ginger bangs back. "Having you as the opening band really means a lot to us." He plays with his black fedora as his eyes dart around the table. "I'm Patrick, the lead singer by the way." He leans over to see his other bandmates. "Do you guys want to introduce yourselves?"

A guy with tattoo sleeves and a mess of dark, curly hair starts talking. "Hi, I'm Joe. I play the electric guitar." He waves to us awkwardly, looking at the guy beside him.

"Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz the Third, at your service," the dark-haired guy says. "But you can call me Pete." He winks at me as everyone else at the table rolls their eyes. "I am the bassist."

The last guy on that side of the table speaks. His high-pitched voice surprises me because it totally contradicts his Hell's Angels appearance. "I'm Andy. I play the drums." He looks back at the first guy--Patrick.

"Well, now that we've introduced ourselves, I guess it's your turn." He looks at Josh.

"Um, hi, I'm Josh," he says awkwardly. "I play the drums."

"I'm Tyler. I'm the singer."

I open my mouth to speak when Mark goes instead.

"Hi, I'm Mark. I'm the band's videographer and social media manager."

Maybe if I don't say anything they won't notice that I didn't speak...

Pete looks at me from across the table. "She didn't go."

"Oops..." Mark mutters.

Tyler slings an arm around me. "That's because we saved the best for last."

I start to blush. "Hi, I'm Jenna. I'm the band's photographer, and I also help Mark with social media management and advertising. I'm also Tyler's girlfriend."

"Ooo, spicy," Pete says. We laugh.

The waiter comes and takes our orders, then Tyler and Patrick start talking to each other.

"So, what's the plan for the tour?" Ty asks.

Patrick reaches into his pocket and withdraws a folded piece of paper. "Well, these are the cities we've booked venues at for next month."

I zone out of the conversation and see that everyone else is kind of talking to each other except for Pete and me. I decide to make some friendly conversation.

"So...did you guys have to fly out here?" I ask him.

"Well, Patrick owns a house out here, so we flew in about two weeks ago since our tour is getting close to starting. But we didn't fly out for lunch, no." He chuckles.

"That's kind of what Tyler and Mark did. Josh has a house out here too, so they just flew out about the same time you did."

"Crazy, isn't it?" he says. "So, are you the chick that was asking who I was over the phone the other day?"

I blush and duck my head. "Yes...."

He laughs. "Well, I am the great and powerful Pete Wentz in the flesh!" He leans forward. "So, are you going on tour, too?"

"Yes," I reply.

"Sweet! I can't wait to meet up with Panic!. This tour is going to be awesome!"

"Uh...yeah! Awesome," I reply a little too unenthusiastically.

Pete's brows furrow. "Do you not want to go?"

"No, it's not that it's just...could we change the subject?" I ask nervously.

"Sure," he replies.

I start to shred my straw wrapper. "So...what did you do before you got into music?"

"I was actually a soccer player, and a pretty good one if I do say so myself."

I raise my eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah." He fidgets with the napkin in front of him.

"What made you change your mind and get into music?"

"Well...even though soccer made me happy, music made me happier. I felt...inspired by it. It helped with my depression and other issues and gave me hope. Still does."

"That sounds a lot like Tyler," I reply. "He probably could've made it into the NBA with his mad basketball skills, but he decided to pursue music instead because it helped him fight his internal battles. He wanted people to know that they're not alone."

He smiles. "We need more musicians like that."

"Yeah," I agree. I think Pete will be someone understanding to turn to during tour if Tyler, Josh, and Mark aren't around to talk.

The waiter comes back with our food and sets the steaming plates in front of us.

"So how'd you meet Tyler?" Pete asks as he waits for his food to cool a little more.

I look up from my plate. "The first or the second time?"

He scrunches up his eyebrows. "Both, I guess?"

I laugh. "Well, during the summer before my senior year, I moved to Columbus, Ohio and he just so happened to live down the street. Both of our backyards had a swath of woods, and we stumbled across each other there one day. He asked me out about two weeks later, and we dated all through our senior year." I made that sound so perfect, yet it was far from. I completely left out the details of Brendon kidnapping me and Tyler's mental health decline.

Pete nods. "Interesting. So, what about the second time?"

"Well, we lost touch after a few years, and about two weeks ago, I was at an outlet mall looking for a job when I stumbled across him performing on the sidewalk. However, I was so scared that I dashed into a Hot Topic and hid in the dressing room." I start laughing. "But, the boys were determined to find me, and that's what happened."

Pete leans forward. "Well, it sounds to me that it was meant to be." He winks.

I start laughing so hard that the rest of the table falls silent, everyone turning to look at me.

Tyler sets a hand on my shoulder, trying to hide a smirk. "Jenna, are you okay?"

I just nod, still unable to catch my breath.

Patrick leans over to look at his grinning bandmate. "Pete, you're not telling her your dad jokes, are you?"

"I told you to save those for the tour!" Joe exclaims.

Pete waves his hand. "Nah man, she just laughs easily."

I finally catch my breath while everyone else goes back to their food. "So, wait, do you actually have kids?"

He nods. "Yep. I had my first kid in 2008, but then I got a divorce in 2011. Now I have a girlfriend."

"Is she going on tour?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "Sadly, no. It'll probably just be you and Sarah."

"Who?" I cock my head.

"Sarah. Brendon Urie's wife? He's the lead singer of Panic! At the Disco."

"Oh," I reply.

Oh. Hopefully, Sarah will be nicer than Brendon. If not, this may not be the best tour experience.

"We'll see you guys soon!" Patrick calls as we part ways to go to our different vehicles.

"Yeah, see ya!" Josh calls back. Pete silently waves goodbye to me before turning away to follow the rest of the group. Pete's pretty cool. Kind of like Josh, he's more of a big brother figure to me.

I slide into the back of Josh's car with Mark as the two other boys climb into the front seats.

"So...are we going to meet up with Panic! at some point or just wait until tour to see them?"

"It's whatever you want, babe," Tyler replies. "We can go meet them one day, and you don't have to come if you don't want to."

"Yeah, you could stay with Debby or something," Josh says.

I lean forward, placing my arm on Tyler's headrest. "Wait--you're still dating Debby!?"

Josh nods. "Yep. She's pretty great. I'm thinking about asking her to come on tour."

"Dude you totally should! Pete said that Sarah Urie may be the only other girl there, and I'm not sure what she's like compared to Brendon."

He smiles. "I'll ask her, then."

We all sit in silence for a few minutes until Josh pulls into the parking lot of my apartment complex. Tyler opens my door and takes my hand to escort me to my door like the gentleman he is.

"Did you have fun today?" he asks as we climb the stairs.

I nod. "You were right, the boys weren't as menacing as I thought they'd be."

"Yeah, I could tell from how much Pete was making you laugh." He grins.

I chuckle. "He's pretty great, that Pete."

"Yeah," he replies. I reach into my pocket and withdraw my keys.

"When are you guys meeting up with Panic!?" I ask.

"Probably sometime this week," Ty replies. "We'll let you know."

"Okay," I reply, stepping forward. We hug. "I had fun today."

"Me too," he agrees, his breath tickling the back of my neck. We break apart, and I open the door of my apartment. Ty waves at me one last time before I close the door behind me. Today was fun. Maybe the tour won't be as bad as my brain thinks it will be. I mean, Brendon is just one guy. How much damage can he do to about....eight of us?

Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Jenna. If you've learned anything from life, then you should know how unpredictable people can be.

I sigh because I know my inner voice is right.