Chapter 2: A Day with Midnight Carnival

Michelle, Taylor, and Lynne smiled and sang along to the last few songs. Turns out Midnight Carnival was even better live than they were on their album. Every so often Edward and Jake would look over at them, sometimes they would wink but most of the time it just looked like they were just making sure the girls were still there. James seemed to be totally focused on the crowd, holding his mic out for them to sing certain lines and trying to get them hyped up. During the middle of the show all the boys sat on stools, Dakota played his acoustic guitar while the others sang a few unreleased songs. After what felt like only half an hour the boys took their final bow. As they walked offstage they handed their microphones to someone before walking straight to the girls. "So what did you sheilas think?" Lucas asked.

"Y'all were great." Michelle smiled.

"Well we would hug you but we're sweaty and probably don't smell too nice, give us a few minutes and come to the dressing room." Jake instructed as the boys started walking back towards their dressing room, a few people giving them high fives as they went.

"I wouldn't have minded a sweaty hug, just saying." Lynne muttered. "Come on, we better go talk to my mom right quick."

The girls made their way through the crowd of people before they finally saw Tina, holding her cell phone in her hand. "There y'all are, I was getting ready to call you. Are you ready to go?"

"Can we stay for a little longer? At least until we give the guys our numbers." Lynne pleaded.

"Fine, but I'm ready to go, the traffic's already gonna be terrible."

The girls agreed before walking back down the hall. Michelle stepped forward knocking on the boys' dressing room door. "Come in!" They heard someone call.

As they stepped into the room they noticed all the boys had changed out of their show clothes and into sweatpants and T-shirts. "Hey guys, we can't stay long, my mom's ready to go." Lynne sighed.

"Oh its ok, we're not leaving town until Monday, so we were wondering if you sheilas wanted to hang out or something." Edward explained.

Taylor glanced at her friends who both nodded their heads. "Uh yeah, that sounds fun."

Jake smirked before taking a few steps towards Michelle. "So uh, could I maybe get your number? Just in case I need to reach you." He muttered holding his phone out.

Michelle chuckled taking his phone from his hand. After typing her number in she hit send. "Now I have yours too."

Lynne glanced at Edward who was looking at her with a nervous look on his face. Finally he spoke. "I was wondering...if maybe I could, I mean, if you want." He pulled an Iphone out of his pocket.

Lynne smiled. 'He's nervous, its so cute.' "Let me see your phone." She repeated Michelle's action before handing it back to him.

Taylor smiled sadly, seeing James sitting by himself on one of the couches. She kept thinking 'Girlfriend, girlfriend, girlfriend.' When it was clear he wasn't make a move she sighed, "Do you think we should go find your mom?"

"Oh right, so we'll see you guys later?" Lynne asked.

"We sure hope so." Edward smirked with the rest of the boys nodding their heads.

As the girls walked out of the room as soon as they were gone Lucas turned towards James. "You're such a dill, mate." He scoffed throwing a discarded T-shirt at him.

"What are you talking about?" James exclaimed.

"The blonde liked you, mate." Dakota laughed.

"Taylor? Nah, plus don't you remember, that certain girl? Her name is Kalyn, otherwise known as my girlfriend."

"Oh right, she's your girlfriend when you're home with her." Edward muttered placing his headphones over his ears.

As the girls walked outside Lynne noticed how Taylor hadn't said a word since they left the dressing room. "Hey Tay, you ok?" She asked.

"Huh? Yeah I'm fine, its just...why does he have to have a girlfriend? Everyone else is single why can't he just follow suit?"

Michelle wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulder, Lynne did the same. "Well just think, none of the guys seem to like the girl so maybe a breakup is on the horizon."

"Sunshine, you know my luck with guys. A break up is a whole ocean away."

"Aw come on, think positive. Thats what you always told me when I was breaking up with Mark." Michelle said.

"Ew, I thought we were going to speak of 'Ye Douche' anymore." Lynne groaned making Taylor laugh.

"Right, I forgot, but still its good advice."

Taylor nodded her head as they made it to Tina's van. "So did you see the boys?" She asked as they closed the sliding door.

"Yeah, we're gonna hang out with them tomorrow." Michelle smiled buckling her seatbelt.

"I don't know where you could take them that they haven't seen before."

As Michelle walked through the front door of her house she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Smiling she saw it was a text from Jake. 'So what do you and your friends have planned for tomorrow?' Running upstairs to her bedroom she replied. 'You're just gonna have to wait and find out.' But then she had to ask something. 'Uh we're not gonna get mobbed by thousands of screaming fans are we?' As she dressed in a pair of blue pajama bottoms she received a reply. 'Nah, you shouldn't but I can't promise anything.' Even though she wanted to talk to him more she couldn't keep her eyes open and fell asleep with her phone in her hand.

That Saturday morning the girls all met at Taylor's house. Lynne was raiding her friend's closet when Michelle and Taylor walked in with bowls of cereal. "Whoa, dude, I know you said you wanted something to wear but I didn't think you were gonna be this picky!" Taylor exclaimed looking at all the discarded tank tops and blouses thrown all over her bedroom.

"I'm sorry! I'll clean it up later, I just want to look extra cute today. I mean the only time Edward's seen me I was in a catering company uniform." Lynne explained throwing another shirt behind her.

Michelle stepped aside to avoid getting hit by falling garments. "Well if you get a shirt in my Cocoa Puffs you're not gonna have to worry about looking cute."

Lynne scoffed before finally settling on a red sheer floral top that she paired with a white tank top to wear under it. As she disappeared into the bathroom Michelle placed her bowl on Taylor's desk. "You know she has a point, meeting Jake in a catering uniform wasn't exactly my dream outfit." She muttered picking up a few blouses off the floor. "What are you wearing?"

"I don't know, I haven't really thought about it." Taylor sighed sitting on her bed.

"Well you better pick something out if you want James to notice you." Michelle smirked bouncing out of the room, a plaid shirt in her hand.

Sighing she hopped off her bed. The first thing that she noticed was her soft, white cardigan and her blue floral tank top. Grabbing a pair of skinny jeans and a pair of black flats she smiled. "There I'm done."

Taylor was the first one ready. She decided to wait for her friends in the kitchen where she saw her mom sitting at the bar. "Hey mama," She smiled taking a seat on one of the stools. The clock on the stove said 12:15.

"Hey, well you look nice, where are y'all going?" Her mom asked.

"Oh we're going to the mall I think, going to try to be incognito."

"Why would you need to be incognito? Its just you three and who would you be trying to hide from?"

Taylor shook her head. "We're going with the guys in Midnight Carnival, mom."

"Who's that? Is that the band you've been blaring in your room at night?"

"Yup, that would be them."

Her mom nodded as Michelle and Lynne walked into the room, both wearing their designated shirts, skinny jeans, Michelle was wearing her black Converses while Lynne wore her black ankle boots. "You ready?" Michelle asked.

Taylor nodded saying a quick bye to her mom. "Ok there's three of us and five of them, my Corolla can't hold us all."

"I'll take my car, where are we going?" Lynne asked.

Michelle pulled out her phone. "Uh, the Omni at the CNN Center."

"Ok, meet you there." As Lynne walked off Taylor and Michelle walked over to her Toyota Corolla.

It wasn't a long drive to the boys hotel. After they were told where to park, and a few choice words from drivers behind them, they finally made it to a parking deck. "So are they gonna meet us in the lobby or what?" Taylor asked as they walked down two flights of stairs.

"Let me ask him real quick." Lynne answered from behind her.

As they walked outside the wind blew their hair giving them chills while the clouds were rolling in. Walking through the front doors of the Omni their mouths dropped. The dim lighting shined on the light wooden paneling, lights hanging down over the concierge desk, a few business men sitting in arm chairs off to the side. "I've never been inside this place before." Lynne whispered feeling like if she spoke too loud she would be kicked out.

Instead of standing awkwardly at the doors they made their way to one of the couches. An older gentleman glanced at them before looking back down at the local paper. Michelle rested her hands on her knees looking around the room. A flat screen TV with the volume down showed the day's weather, apparently it was a high chance of rain around lunchtime. Finally they saw the boys walking out of one of the elevators. Rising from their seats they saw the boys smile. "Hey, so to the mall?" Michelle asked.

The boys nodded, all wearing flat bill hats, sunglasses, and jackets. As they walked towards the parking deck the boys got a few stares, probably for wearing sunglasses when the sun wasn't even out. "Ok so Taylor and I drove, just pick a car." Lynne explained climbing in the driver's seat of her Honda.

James started stepping towards the Accord before Lucas stopped him, "Why don't you go in that car, mate?" He smirked pushing him towards Taylor's car.

James shook his head as he opened the door to the Corolla's backseat. He looked over to see Dakota and Jake smirking at him. "All right, let's get going." Taylor sighed putting her car into drive.

The ride was fairly quiet until Michelle asked. "Hey Tay, don't you have your Framing Hanley C.D in here?"

"I think so." Michelle hit a button on the radio before turning the volume up. 'The Promise' began to play.

"Is this the band you were telling us about?" Jake asked over the music.

Taylor and Michelle both nodded as they turned off the highway to a two lane road. In Lynne's car she was laughing as Lucas told her a story about the pranks they play on each other. "I'm serious, you would never though a boy would be that pissed about one of his eyebrows getting shaved off."

"The makeup team had to draw one on every time I went out in public!" Edward exclaimed.

Lynne chuckled before taking a deep breath. "Ok I noticed something earlier, why did y'all push James to go over to Taylor's car?"

"It wasn't me," Edward defended. "It was all Lucas' idea."

Lynne glanced up in her review mirror to look Lucas in the eye. "Ok, quite frankly, none of us can stand his girlfriend. She's a real...what's the word I'm looking for?"

"Bitch?"

"Yeah that's it. She always treats him awful, expecting him to buy her expensive gifts, she doesn't like any of us, and the one thing I really hate is she's rude to the fans."

"What do you mean?"

Edward sighed. "Whenever she's with us and a fan will approach us she'll say something to them making them leave, one time a little girl started crying."

"And James has no problem with this?" Lynne asked as they pulled up to the mall.

"He doesn't like it but he says they've been together since before he was famous and she doesn't know how to handle it."

The car came to a stop. "Well she sounds like a real gem." She muttered opening her door.

The boys put their sunglasses back on as they made their way towards the front entrance. "Do you think anyone will notice them?" Lynne asked Michelle who just shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm starving." Dakota exclaimed fixing his hat. "Come on it is lunch time!"

"You're always hungry." James chuckled as they walked towards the food court.

The boys bought pizza while the girls headed towards Chick fil A. "All right where to sit?" Michelle mumbled as they grabbed their bags.

When they sat down Lucas made the mistake of taking off his hat and glasses. Usually light brown hair wasn't that big of a deal but his hair was another story. As they began eating they heard a shrill scream. "Oh my God, its Midnight Carnival!"

Everyone's heads snapped up hearing a bunch of girls scream. "Run!" They all exclaimed.

Jake grabbed Michelle's hand as they jumped up from the table. Edward placed his hand on Lynne's lower back as they started running. "Aww, my food!" Dakota cried as James pushed him along. The screaming fans were gaining on them. Running through crowds of people they heard more and more screams. The mob was growing but hopefully they didn't get any faster. Seeing multiple security guards ahead of them, the group ran down a corridor to an exit. It was pouring down rain as they tumbled out the door. "This isn't where we came in!" Michelle panted.

"Come on, this way." Taylor instructed as they ran through the rain.

All of them were instantly soaked as the hurried down the sidewalks. "Are they still following us?" Lucas asked looking back.

Edward stopped. "No." He choked. "So that means we can stop running."

Everyone's steps slowed until they all came to a stop. Chills ran down the girls' spine from the rain. "Well let's not just stand here, we'll get sick." James sighed walking towards Taylor. "Which way?"

Running her hands through her hair she muttered. "This way, we should be almost there."

After a little walking they spotted the Accord and Corolla sitting side by side off in the distance. "All right anywhere that's public is out. Where can we go now?" Edward sighed.

"Well Taylor's house is the closest, plus doesn't your brother still have some clothes they could borrow?" Lynne asked.

"Uh yeah, I'm sure I can find something." Taylor half-smiled as they reached the cars.

It was only a five minute drive to Taylor's family's suburban home. No cars were in the driveway as they came to a stop. "Nice place." Jake murmured as they walked to the front porch.

"I wonder where everyone is." Taylor mumbled unlocking the door for everyone. "All right y'all go up to room and get changed. Boys follow me and I'll get you some clothes."

Michelle and Lynne ran upstairs to their friend's bedroom while Taylor and the boys walked to Allen's room. Taylor's older brother had been serving in the Air Force for three years but their mom had saved tons of old clothes. Opening the door the first thing they saw was the full sized bed with a blue Air Force flag hanging above it. Walking over to the dresser she pulled out pairs of basketball shorts. Trying to hide her chattering teeth she found older T-shirts she hadn't seen her brother wear since he was a junior in high school. After making sure they all had something to wear she smiled. "Ok, if y'all need anything else just let me know."

Closing the door behind her she ran to her own bedroom. At this point she was freezing. Her friends were already dressed and were trying to dry their hair as best as they could. They also had already laid out Taylor's favorite pair of baggy Georgia sweatpants and purple sweater with quarter length sleeves. "Aww I love you guys." She chuckled quickly changing into her dry clothes.

"We know." Lynne smirked braiding her hair into a side braid.

"The one time I straighten my hair it decides to come a monsoon outside." Michelle grumbled already noticing her become curlier and curlier.

"Well today was a waste of makeup." Taylor chuckled wiping off any leftover eyeliner she had on.

"Maybe they prefer the natural look." Lynne laughed trying to think on the bright side.

While her friends were trying to tame their wild hair Taylor decided to go fix everyone hot chocolate, anything to help them warm up after the day they had. Filling a kettle with water she turned the stove on. As she was grabbing coffee mugs she heard someone walk into the room. Looking back she saw James wearing a gray T-shirt with a hole in the collar and a pair of blue basketball shorts with a white strip down the side. His usually shaggy brown hair was still damp, sticking to his forehead. "Need any help?" He asked.

"Yeah, can you put these on the bar?" She instructed suddenly wishing she fixed her hair. Instead of pulling it up she just ran a brush through it and shook it out.

"What are you making?"

"Uh, hot chocolate. Where's everyone else?" She said grabbing the blue Swiss Miss hot cocoa box out of the cabinet.

"Sitting in the living room, I was just wondering where you were."

Taylor blushed grabbing several packets out of the box, handing a few to him. "Just pour those in the cups." She whispered seeing Lynne and Edward walk in.

"Do you have those marshmallows your mom bought for the campfire last weekend?" Lynne laughed. Edward and James gave shot them confused looks.

Taylor nodded her head. "In the pantry."

As Lynne went to the pantry Edward asked. "What's so funny about marshmallows?"

"You see my mom has to work late some nights during the week, I get my hair color from her by the way." She explained pointing to her blonde hair. "Well last Friday we had a bonfire in the backyard but we needed marshmallows to make s'mores, my mom said she would pick some up on her way home. When she finally got here she brought the tiny ones. We had to stack four or five on the sticks just to have one s'more."

Edward and James both chuckled as Taylor threw away the empty packets. The rest of the group walked in as the kettle started to whistle. When everyone had a cup in their hand they walked into the living room to watch some movies. Everyone, being their mature 17 and 18 year old selves all decided on 'Toy Story 3.' As the movie started they heard the front door open. Taylor saw her dad's eyes widen. "Ok I know who three of you are but the rest of you, who are you and how did you get in my house?" He laughed.

"Hi dad," Taylor chuckled rising from her seat beside Lucas. "These are the guys of Midnight Carnival, the band I was telling you about. This is James, Dakota, Lucas, Jake, and Edward."

"I probably won't remember all of your names but hey, Tay, can I talk to you in the kitchen?" Taylor cringed placing her mug on the coffee table before following her father into the kitchen. "So why are they here? And why are they wearing your brother's clothes?"

"We were at the mall and their fans saw them. We got chased in the rain, we just decided to come here. And Allan's old clothes fit all of them."

Her dad sighed. "Ok, they seem like nice boys. I mean, I walk in on five boys with my teenage daughter and her two friends watching 'Toy Story 3' and drinking hot chocolate."

"Party animals huh?"

"I think me and your mom are worse. Well the rain has cleared up, how about later tonight we have a fire and just order some pizzas?"

"Sounds great, thanks dad." Taylor smiled giving him a quick hug.

As she walked back in the room Jake asked. "Everything all right?"

"Yeah, uh, do you guys have plans tonight?" The boys looked at each other before shaking their heads. "Well do you want to hang out here, have some pizza and sit by the fire?"

"That sounds pretty good." Edward smiled. "Its not everyday we get a day off like this."

"What do you guys do everyday?" Lynne asked placing her cup aside.

"Rehearsals, autograph signings, interviews, or we're on a plane all day." Dakota sighed. "I mean, its great meeting our fans and everything but sometimes its just exhausting."

"We wanted this life, we got what we asked for." James mumbled.

The room suddenly turned silent, the only sounds were coming from the TV. When Taylor's mom got home with pizzas Dakota was the first one off the couch. "What? We didn't get to eat at the mall?" He said grabbing a slice.

When the sun began to set Taylor's dad started working on the fire. Taylor and her mom found the boys some jackets in Allen's closet along with pairs of sweatpants. When the boys were dressed they made their way outside. Camping chairs were set up around the metal fire pit. Everyone took a seat before Michelle asked. "So anyone want s'mores? We have micro marshmallows."

"I wish we had a guitar," Dakota sighed.

"Actually..." Taylor smiled running back into the house. "When my brother was going through his 'I'm gonna be a rock star' phase my parents bought him this," In her hands she held an older acoustic guitar. "Its probably not even in tune but its worth a shot."

"I remember that, didn't he give up after three days?" Lynne laughed.

"Yeah, that's when he turned to football." Taylor answered handing the guitar to Dakota.

While Dakota tried his best to tune the guitar everyone tried their best at telling ghost stories, none of which were really scary. Finally Dakota exclaimed. "I've got it! So what should we sing?" He asked strumming a few chords.

After a few songs the boys sighed. "What time is it?" Jake asked.

"Almost eleven." Michelle told him looking down at her phone.

"We better get back to the hotel before management freaks out." Lucas muttered rising from his seat.

Taylor's mom had washed the boys' clothes leaving them on the back of the couch. After they changed they headed outside. "So y'all are leaving Monday?" Michelle asked as they climbed back in their designated cars.

"Unfortunately, but at least we have one more day off." Dakota sighed.

"Would you sheilas like to meet up again?" Jake smirked.

"Do y'all think you can handle us for one more day?" Taylor laughed fastening her seatbelt.

"Of course, today was one of the best days we've had in a while." James chuckled.

"Well we'll figure out something." Michelle smiled as Taylor started the car.

As they parked in front of the Omni, Dakota and Jake climbed out of the backseat first. As Jake was about to get out he handed Taylor a sheet of paper. Before she had the chance to say anything the door slammed shut. "What did he give you?" Michelle exclaimed.

Taylor unwrinkled the paper. "His number." She whispered.

Both made sure the boys were out of sight until they squealed. Holding the number tight she put the car into drive and drove off towards her house.

So I'm not 100% sure on Australian slang but from what I saw 'dill' means idiot. If I need to correct anything please tell me. Review! :)