Reckless and clumsy... chapter 6

The night was amazing. The food that was served was great. Our performances were even going pretty well, which surprised me. I thought I was too nervous to sing.

All of the night’s festivities were about to come to an end when Billy got up on stage and walked to a microphone. I was severely confused. We hadn’t rehearsed anything else…

“Hey everybody! I’m Billy, and I play guitar for Emma.” The crowd applauded him. “Thanks. Emma didn’t know this was happening. We planned this as a little surprise for her, because she’s been working so hard lately and she really deserves something special.”

I glanced at Charlotte, who just smiled. She was in on this.

“If you will please, welcome a very close friend of Emma’s to the stage… Justin Bieber.” I gasped.
What was going on?

Justin walked on stage with a guitar to a huge round of applause and cheers. He sat down on a stool and pulled the microphone down so he could talk.

“I’m here because Emma’s band told me she’d been stressing out about this release pretty bad, and being the awesome friend I am, I got in on this with them. When Emma and I met and hung out for the first time, we watched a really embarrassing video of me when I was younger singing a song. I know it’s one of her favorites, so I agreed to perform it for her. So this is ‘With You’.”

Justin began to play, and I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face. I was going to have to hit him really hard when he got done.

After the song was over and the crowd was done applauding for Justin, he spoke again.

“That’s not all.” He smiled. I saw my band walk from side-stage holding what looked like a big plaque. “Em’s band and I decided that since the album came out today, she deserved her own, special copy.” They turned the plaque around and revealed a giant version of the cover of my album, as well as the actual C.D.

“Are you gonna come up here and get it, or what?” Billy asked. I walked up on stage and the audience applauded. As I got a closer look at my gift, I noticed that it said, “To the best front-woman and friend any five guys can have. Love, Jake, Ryan, Charlie, Billy, and Justin.” I was really touched.

“Thanks guys,” I said smiling from ear to ear. I hugged them all and together we walked off-stage.

Justin hung around until pretty much everyone was gone.

“Hey Emma, we’ll be out front if you need us.” Ryan said, walking with the rest of my band and leaving Justin and I alone.

“Ok, I’ll be out there in a few minutes.” I looked at Justin. “Listen, I want to thank you again for what you guys did tonight. It really meant a lot to me.”

“No problem, shawty.” I giggled. “What?”

“I just think it’s funny when you call me ‘shawty’.” He smiled.

“I guess.” Things seemed to get a million times quieter. “Em, can we talk?”

“Isn’t that what we’re doing?”

“Em, I’m being serious.” He smiled despite the seriousness of his statement.

“Ok, shoot.”

“I know I bring this up a lot, but I’ve got to try again.” I knew what was coming.

“Justin…”

“Em, I like you. I have since I met you. I really think we’d be great together.”

“Justin, we’ve been over this, about a trillion times,” I said, trying to ignore the awakening butterflies in my stomach.

“Please. Just give us a chance.”

“No, J. We can’t.”

“Why not?!” He sounded angry.

“Because! I’m too old for you.”

“I see the way you look at me, Emma. I’m not stupid. I know you feel the same way about me. You just won’t give us a chance. You keep lying to yourself and trying to deny how you feel because you’re afraid of what everyone else thinks. Guess what? They don’t matter. The only thing that matters is US. I could fall in love with you Emma. And I think you could fall in love with me, too. PLEASE. Just give us a chance.” He was right. But I couldn’t. This was too risky.

I felt so overwhelmed that I wanted to cry. I turned away from him and began to walk away. I couldn’t let him see me cry.

“Emma!” He grabbed my arm and spun me around. He looked into my eyes with so much intensity that I could feel the heat radiating from him. Within a split second, his lips had met mine and my breath caught in my chest. I was letting this go way too far. I pulled away.

“Justin… we can’t do this…” Tears began to fall silently down my cheeks.

“Emma, I know you feel it too! You can’t deny how you feel anymore. That kiss was special. I KNOW you feel the same way. Please Em, please!” He was almost shouting.

“I’ve got to leave.” I ran out front. Ryan turned around first, and the rest followed.

“Whoa, Em, what’s up?” Jake asked.

“I’m leaving. I’ll see you guys later.” And with that, I ran outside, climbed into the back of the SUV I came in, and began to cry even harder.