Chapter Seven

If the throbbing headache wasn’t an indication Bianca had way too much to drink the night before, the clothes scattered around the floor in Graham’s bedroom was.

She sat up and her eyes seemed to roll into the back of her head. She hadn’t had a hangover this bad since that party Hallie threw a year ago, when they invited some coworkers over for mojitos and chips and salsa. She looked over at Graham, whose body was sprawled out every which way, his hair sloppy, his face content in dreamland. She was stark except for her cute black boy shorts with a little skull on the right butt cheek with a red bow on it’s head. She stood up from the bed and moved quietly, as to not disturb Graham’s peaceful slumber. She wondered what he was dreaming about, and if the smile on his face was an affect from what happened last night. Yes, they slept together, and what she could remember from it, it was incredible. She just wished it wasn’t such a fuzzy memory. And for the first time in ages, she didn’t feel guilty for hooking up with somebody. The boys after Graham were just for one thing; and that lingering stomach ache from the idea of how stupid she was the night before kept her awake at night. But when she slept with Graham, it felt meant to be. It wasn’t a mistake. Not at all.

She put her bra back on, grabbed her dress and put it over her head. She tip toed down the hall to find Hallie. She vaguely remembered her shouting excitedly about sleeping in the same bed with Frankie before she slammed the door in Bianca’s face. She faintly recollected images in her mind from the evening before, and remembered how Graham had been all over her. She smiled when thinking about it.

Bianca lightly knocked on Frankie’s door. There was no answer. So she slowly opened it, peering in to search for Hallie’s face. Instead, she saw Hallie’s bare behind facing toward the ceiling, laying on her stomach, completely passed out. Frankie- thank god- had the ivory sheet over his body. Bianca couldn’t help but giggle. Then she realized what time it was when she saw it on the table next to Hallie’s naked skin.

“Hallie!” Bianca shout whispered.

She didn’t make a sound in response.

So, Bianca decided to be louder. “Hallie! We’re going to be late for work! We have to drive back and get ready and we’ll be late if we don’t leave soon! Did I mention we’ll be late?” She said, stressing her point.

Hallie groaned with a disgruntled look on her face as she turned around and lifted the sheet over her body. “So what?” She mumbled.

“We have to leave now!” Bianca ordered.

Hallie fully opened her eyes now, giving an impatient glance. “Bianca. I’m tired. Call in sick for us. Say we have food poisoning or something,” She muttered then fell back into the pillow, pulling the sheet snug over her arms. A tightly shut eyed Frankie then decided to pull Hallie close to him.

Bianca sighed as she exited the room. She could call in sick. After all, she never did before. She hadn’t missed a day of work since she started. She walked into the living room, where Vanessa and Zachary were sound asleep on the sofa in their party clothes from the evening before. Cody wasn’t in sight, so Bianca assumed he went home. Janie wasn’t there either, or the guys and their posse from across the hall. They probably went home sometime after Bianca and Graham retired to his room.

She found her purse by the kitchen and walked back into hallway leading to the bedrooms and called her work, telling her boss Nina that her and Hallie ate some bad sushi the night before and had been throwing up nonstop. Nina wasn’t thrilled to say the least, but said she could get someone to take their shifts.

Bianca decided there wasn’t much else she could do at this point. She would have to go back into Graham’s room. Not that she didn’t want to, but she questioned if it would be awkward or not. Just because he was all over her last night, didn’t mean he wanted to be all over her that morning. She took in a big breath and tiptoed back into his room. She had to use the bathroom, so she helped herself to the one adjacent to his bedroom.

Graham shifted as she sat back down onto the queen sized bed. He opened his eyes and offered, “Good morning,” as he stretched and let out a dramatic yawn.

He patted the spot next to him, which meant he wanted Bianca back in his arms. Even in the morning, when her hair wasn’t combed, her makeup smeared…she was still beautiful, and he wanted her close.

“Lay,” He ordered softly.

Bianca let out a small giggle as she obeyed, letting his warm arms cover her body like saran wrap while they spooned. He was in his boxer shorts, and she liked feeling his bare chest against her back.

“Good morning,” She replied. She was just thankful he didn’t kick her out. Instead, he wanted her back in the bed, which she assumed was a good thing.

“How’d you sleep?” Graham asked into her hair. It smelled like the cigarettes he smoked next to her on the balcony most of the night, while they were completely hammered. Even Bianca smoked one or two.

“Really good. I conked out the minute we laid down,” She admitted, remembering how he whispered good night to her and said she was “A special person.”

“Good. Are you hungry?” he asked.

“Not just yet,” Bianca told him.

“Great. Let’s just lay here. It reminds me of our teenaged years,” he said softly. After a minute of not talking, it seemed he drifted back to sleep, because his breathing got heavier. Instead of falling asleep right away herself, she found herself grazing her fingers through Graham’s arm hair, admiring the fact that she was in his arms. It felt so surreal, and she didn’t want to get up or sleep to forget it. She wanted to cherish the feeling, because she still wasn’t sure if Graham wanted her after they said their goodbyes. Whenever that would be.

Two hours later when the couples were a bit more rested, Graham tapped Bianca’s shoulder to jolt her from her dream. She cleared her throat and turned to look at him. He had the same smile he had while he was sleeping, though his teeth were exposed and his eyes sparkled back at her. She admired his face stubble, and moved her head away so he wouldn’t take in her morning breath.

“Hi,” She whispered.

“You want to eat? It’s almost nine,” Graham chuckled as he pulled her body closer to his.

Bianca giggled. “Do we have to move? I haven’t felt like being so lazy since high school.”

“We haven’t laid like this since high school,” Graham added. It made Bianca feel a moment of sadness, just thinking about how nice it used to be.

“Let’s get up and get dressed. We’re going to Venice beach,” Graham told Bianca.

Bianca looked at him confused. “Venice beach? But, I don’t have clothes or anything and-”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll get you something in Venice. There are all kinds of vendors there with clothes,” Graham said, hopping out of bed. She shyly looked away when she witnessed him in his boxers. Just because she saw him in them last night, didn’t mean she was comfortable staring at him in the broad, sober daylight. She didn’t know where they stood, so she thought it would be rude to stare.

She wished she could catch another glance at him, but when she turned her head he was in his jeans.

“I’m going to take a shower. Ask everyone if they want to go too. And then you can take a shower if you want too,” Graham offered.

Bianca slightly nodded her head and then got up from bed and walked over to Frankie’s room once Graham had vacated her presence.

“Hal?” Bianca called out, searching for her.

“We’re in the kitchen!” Hallie’s voice shouted back.

Bianca walked into the now familiar kitchen and saw Hallie sitting on the granite countertop, eating a small bowl of cereal. Frankie’s head was in the fridge, searching for something, Vanessa and Hallie were giggling at their bathroom fight, finding the incident now hilarious. Zachary was watching some television on the large plasma, flipping through channels. Bianca propped herself up on a barstool next to Vanessa, who was drinking some coffee.

“Coffee?” Frankie offered.

Bianca nodded her head with vast enthusiasm. “Yes. Please.”

Bianca had so many questions she wanted to ask Hallie, and had so much to share with her as well, but with everyone around them, it would prove difficult until they stole a moment alone. So instead of worrying about it, Bianca dreamt of Graham in the shower, and wondered if he would be alarmed or pleased if she stepped into the shower to join him.

Then she remembered her task appointed by Graham. “So, Graham wanted to know if you guys want to go to Venice beach?” Bianca asked the group.

They all happily accepted the idea. “Sounds fun. We’ve never been, huh B?” Hallie asked her, as Frankie wrapped his arm around Hallie’s body as continued to sit on the countertop. Bianca forced back a giggle as she covered her mouth.

After Bianca showered and everyone else got dressed, the group was ready to go to Venice beach. Graham offered to drive since he had the largest car, and he told Bianca to ride up front. She wanted so badly to change into new clothes. She hadn’t planned on the sleepover and couldn’t wait to find a new outfit to put on. And she found herself thinking of Graham’s lifestyle, and got curious.

“Will you guys get noticed at the beach?” Bianca asked all of them.

“Nah, we’re not cool enough, but maybe because Zachary’s hair is so damn bright. But at least he’ll fit in with the kooky crowd,” Frankie teased him. Zachary punched him in the arm from the far back seat.

“Not really. Unless- there are fans there. Not everyone knows who we are and not everyone identifies us. People may have heard of some of our songs, but they aren’t familiar with our faces. If we’re by ourselves, we don’t really get hassled,” Graham informed her.

“What about if you’re all together?” Hallie chimed in.

“Well, the chances are higher, but that’s only if fans happen to be around.”

Fans were around. There were at least a dozen when they started walking around. There was a group of four teenaged girls, wearing skinny jeans and neon colored sunglasses. The next fans came when they were browsing through dresses for the girls. Bianca was trying some on with Hallie when they heard a couple girls getting autographs with their boyfriends, bragging about how often they listened to Shadow Follower’s CD.

“So, fans found them again. Can you imagine if they were as famous as The Rolling Stones or something?” Hallie marveled.

“That would be crazy. I don’t mind the fans, as long as I can change right now, I don’t care,” Bianca giggled. “At least I had makeup in my purse, otherwise I would look like a beast.”

“I know, right? If I knew we were sleeping over at their place, I would have brought lingerie or something sexy like that,” Hallie joked.

“What’s with you and Frankie?” Bianca whispered to the thick white cotton separating the small changing rooms under the vendor’s tent.

“We had sex,” Hallie said nonchalantly.

Bianca shook her head playfully at Hallie, though she couldn’t see it. “I figured that much out. Did you talk about what happens next?” Bianca asked.

“No,” Hallie said. “But I’m not worried about it right now. I’m having too much fun catching up.”

The crazy people roaming around the beach cracked the entire group up. A guy talking to his shoe, a man offering to sell them his lemonade that had already been sipped from. There was a handful of psychics, protesters against war, people asking for weed. Bohemian people playing bongos, stores that carried unique clothing. Bianca and Hallie found sundresses that were tie-dyed into a spectacular row of green, then pink, then brown, that flowed on the ground like they were hippies. The guys all got fedora hats in different colors. Bianca liked Graham’s the best, because it was in a turquoise blue that brought out his amazing eyes.

“Having fun so far?” Graham asked her. For the most part, they seemed like good friends. They didn’t hold hands, they didn’t hug much. Bianca wanted the next move to occur, but she wouldn’t dare be the first to try it.

“Yes. This is awesome,” Bianca replied seriously.

Graham halted walking for a second, stopping in his tracks. As the rest of the gang strode off toward the thick crowd of tourists and regulars, Bianca felt her heart race. Graham’s face was inches away from her own, his eyes glowing at her.

“I’m glad you’re here,” He admitted, feeling his heart race as well. He enjoyed her presence so much, he felt himself acting differently. But it was the Graham he used to be. The one in high school, writing songs in his childhood bedroom, innocent and young.

“I’m glad too,” Bianca grinned as she responded.

Graham grabbed her hand, without thinking twice about it and moved in to kiss her lips. They felt cold from the coke she was sipping on. She nearly dropped the drink as he deepened the kiss, those old feelings zooming back into her at full speed. She was hooked again, for sure she knew now, and she didn’t want it to go away. She was determined to make the day last.

“Where to after this?” Bianca questioned.

“The gig. We should leave right now actually,” Graham told her looking at his black watch.

“Oh, okay. I guess um…Hallie and I will leave when we get back.”
Graham looked offended when he asked, “Why? You’re coming. And this time, you’ll be backstage the whole time,” he said, as if she had no option and she was going no matter what.

“Okay. Sounds fun,” Bianca smiled dreamily at him. Graham bent down to her for another kiss and was interrupted by the rude flashing of lights. Bianca looked over and found a girl the guys gave autographs to earlier, taking pictures.

“I want to tell everyone on my Myspace fan site if you’re his girlfriend! So, are you his girlfriend?” The fan asked.

Bianca started to stutter. “Um…uh...we…uh…”

“She’s very special to me. Tell everyone that,” Graham offered politely. She may have not been called his girlfriend, but at least she was special to him. And she admired how he didn’t snap at the fan, when Bianca was quite frustrated with the intrusion herself.

“Let’s go,” Graham told her in her ear, grabbing her hand and leading the way to find the others, so they could drive to the venue for their next concert.

A/N: I'll be out of town this weekend so I updated for you! Even though I'm tired, I'm glad I did finish this chapter. I will finish this note with this: I now have an obession with making fondant covered cakes. Don't ask how this came about. I think it was watching too much Ace of Cakes and how-to videos on You Tube. However, the final product was quite lovely, even if it was my first time truly decorating a cake, especially with fondant!

Internet Hugs- (glad that my created saying is catching on. Am I a trendsetter now? :O)

Katie