Ketchum, ID

ch 36 - jo+alex

Jo

Alex and I sang our hearts out to the song we had inspired, and we didn't care that people were watching. I knew that people knew who I was and what I looked like, but I didn't care. All that mattered to me in that moment was my best friend and I getting to see our favorite band sing a song that we loved. Every time I looked up to the stage, Julien was already looking at me with the cutest smile on her face.

"Wanna head backstage?" Alex yelled to me over the music.

The song was about over, so we decided we would just meet them back in their dressing room. We started to walk in that direction, when the girls we had talked to outside found us.

"Oh my god! How could you?" Alyssa said to us as she got closer. "You lied to us!" she said, getting even closer.

"Hey, hey, hey," Alex said, stepping up next to me. "Back up."

Alyssa kept getting closer until suddenly she was in my face.

"You lied to us! More than once!" she screamed, causing people around us to turn their heads away from the stage to see what was going on.

"I know I did, I'm sorry," I said, starting to get scared of how close to me she was.

"We talked to you multiple times and you lied!" Alyssa continued to yell.

"Lyss, calm down," one of her friends said.

"I can't calm down! How are you guys calm? She lied to us!"

"Lyss, it's not a big deal-" her friend started before she cut her off.

"It is a big deal! They lied to us!" she kept screaming.

At this point, the song was at the point where the crowd usually got quiet, but Alyssa was not getting quiet. All of a sudden I was on the ground and she was on top of me.

"Get off of her!" I heard Alex scream as her fist connected with my face.

"Alyssa stop!" one of her friends screamed.

Then everything faded to black.

Alex

"I can't calm down! How are you guys calm? She lied to us!" the Alyssa girl shouted.

"Lyss, it's not a big deal-" her friend started before she cut her off.

"It is a big deal! They lied to us!" she kept screaming.

Suddenly, Alyssa threw herself at Jo and they were on the ground. I could tell Jo was in pain from the fall, but she was still trying to get her off of her.

"Get off of her!" I screamed, moving toward the two girls on the floor.

I watched as Alyssa let go of Jo with one of her hands and punched her in the face.

"Alyssa stop!" one of her friends screamed.

She punched her again, and Jo's body went limp. One of Alyssa's friends and I managed to get her off of Jo before she could punch her again, and security came over and escorted them out. I knelt down to check on my unconscious best friend, and Julien and Phoebe were running toward us.

"She's unconscious!" I yelled to them, causing them to speed up.

"We need a medic over here!" Julien shouted, causing people to move out of her way.

"Now!" Phoebe screamed.

One of the medics made his way over to us, and the crowd started to disperse, seeing as two of the three members were no longer on the stage. I watched as the medic waved something under Jo's nose to wake her up, and I had never felt more relief course through my body than when they got her to sit up.

"Thank you everyone for coming out, and we hope to see you again soon. We love you, New York!" Lucy said into her microphone before exiting the stage.

"Let's get her backstage, she needs to be laying down," the medic said, turning to me.

"Yes, of course," Phoebe said.

"We probably shouldn't have her walk just yet, so I can go grab a stretcher," the medic said to me.

"Could I carry her? That way we don't have to wait here," I said, wanting to get as far away from this crowd as possible.

"Absolutely, let's go."

I bent down and scooped Jo into my arms, and we started the walk to the dressing room.

"My knight in shining armor," Jo said with a lazy smile on her face.

"Yeah, yeah," I said with a chuckle. "I need you to keep your eyes open for me, okay?"

"Aye aye, captain," she said back as she raised her arm in an attempt to salute me.

"What happened?" Julien asked me as we finally made it to the dressing room.

I set Jo down on the couch as I explained the story to Julien. The medic did a check on Jo and made sure nothing was broken. He said she would probably be sore for the next few days, and she'd have a few bruises, but nothing seemed to be broken, and she didn't have a concussion.

"So you guys knew this girl?" Phoebe asked.

"I mean, we'd met them twice because we were in line behind them for the first show and we ran into them outside again tonight, but I wouldn't say we knew her," I said. "I mean I never would've expected her to do anything like what she did, and from her friends' reactions, I don't think they were expecting it either."

"That was wild," Jo said weakly from the couch.

"You scared me!" I said to her.

"She scared me!" Jo replied. "How was I supposed to know dating a sexy rockstar was gonna get me punched in the face during a sad song?" she said, causing everyone in the room to laugh.

"Julien jumped from the stage so fast, if I hadn't been watching you all too I would've thought something was chasing her," Lucy said. "I knew once Julien's guitar came off, she meant business."

"I saw you guys talking and I saw her getting closer, and something came over me," Julien admitted. "I'm so so sorry that happened to you, I'll never forgive myself."

"It's not your fault," I heard myself say to her.

"It's really not," Jo said. "She was crazy, that had nothing to do with you. I promise I do not regret telling anyone, and I hope you don't either."

"That was the scariest thing I've ever seen," Julien said. "Being on stage and seeing your girlfriend get tackled to the ground is not something I would wish on anyone."

"I wouldn't wish seeing your best friend get punched in the face right in front of you either," I said.

"I probably would wish getting punched in the face on some people, I will not lie," Jo said.

"Shut up, nerd," I said to her. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too," Jo said with a weak smile.

"Me three," Lucy, Julien, and Phoebe said all at the same time, causing us all to laugh.

"Let's get out of here," Phoebe said. "I'm tired of being here."

"Me too," all of us said at the same time.

And somehow, after traumatic events, we all walked–or limped–out of there with a smile on our faces.