Chapter 1

For Rubii <3 <3 <3

As the last few notes of "Baby" echoed through the crowd, I could feel the numbness of my ears really start to take effect.  But before I could determine whether or not I still had hearing a high pitched scream pierced through me. Now, I thought, I really must've lost my hearing. All of a sudden, a hand clamped on my arm so tight I was losing feeling.

"OH MY GOD, RUBI!" screamed Charlotte, jumping up and down and pulling my arm with her. My ears were still ringing from her previous screech. "HE'S SO CUTE! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH! JUSTIN BIEBER I LOVE YOU!!!!!"

I rolled my eyes, but she was too intent on watching him cross the stage to notice. I knew that she was hoping, with all her heart, that JB would pick her out of the crowd and sing his final song to her. But, unfortunately, I knew that she had about a one in a million chance to be picked out of all the screaming obsessed fans at the concert. As I looked at her gazing up at the 17 year old heart-throb, with so much hope in her eyes, I felt my own eyes fill with pity and sorrow. I sighed and turned my head back to the boy on the stage, catching him mid-sentence.

"-love all my fans, especially those who are here tonight, but for this last song, I'm gonna have one special girl come on stage with me. How about..." his eyes raked the audience, and lingered on me and Char. My heart started to race, but my hope fell when his gaze continued on and landed on a very attractive blonde girl a few feet away from us wearing a tight low cut tank top of his favorite color. "Let's have this girl right here; the one in the purple tank top."

Over a chorus of high pitched screams from and around the chosen girl, I could practically hear the disappointment of my friend. I turned towards her with sympathy in my eyes. She was gazing at the purple-clad girl as she climbed onto stage with a mixture of envy, and hate.

"Char..." My voice was barely audible over the constant buzz of the screaming fans, but somehow, Charlotte managed to hear me and turned to face me. She had a world of hurt in her eyes. She was obviously hoping for some words of comfort from me

"Look on the bright side!" I started happily. When she raised her right eyebrow, dubious, I elaborated. "She'll probably never get to see him like this ever again. And we" -I picked up the laminated pass hanging from my neck and tapped her on the head with it, "have backstage passes. It'd be way better to meet him while he's NOT in front of thousands of screaming fans!"

The corners of her mouth turned slightly upward but she still seemed very dismal. We turned back to the stage just in time to catch the end of the first verse of "One Less Lonely Girl". 

As the last screaming lyrics erupted from the mouths of the thousands of fans, I noticed the song didn’t have the same effect on Char that it normally did. She was probably still just upset that she wasn't chosen.

"He doesn't realize that he just make more lonely girls in this world" she muttered under her breath before turning to me, their usual fire returning, ablaze in her eyes, "Now, let’s go meet Justin Bieber!"

Now I know what you’re thinking, why would I go to a JB concert if I don’t love him? Well, the answer is simple. No, I don’t love him but, yes, I do like him. I, for one, think it’s stupid to say your "in love" with someone you've never even met. I mean, it’s alright to have a celebrity crush, but a crush and love, are two completely different things. You wouldn't go up to some kid in a class of yours and say you loved them. Celebrities are people, too, and that would be very awkward for them. JB wasn't always famous so, he knows what it’s like to be normal, and I bet that he, sometimes, wishes he could go back to the way things were.

As Char dragged me through the crowd, shoving the random people out of our way, I noticed how the light reflected off her blonde hair and shone beautifully. I immediately was glad that she decided against dyeing her hair. Unlike me and most of our friends, Charlotte had the stereotypical "popular girl" hair. It was down to her waste and fell in waves. It was beautiful but she (and most of us, for that matter) thought it gave her the look of "conformity". Not to mention her beautiful blue eyes, high cheekbones and flawless skin. She was that kind of girl who all the cookie cutter girls wanted to be. Thank god she hadn't fallen into their trap of Juicy Couture sweat suits, Ugg shoes, and Marc Jacobs handbags. But still, she was that amazing girl who just happened to be born perfect. I twirled a few strands of hair around my finger and glanced at the tip of my hair, wincing as I noticed too many split ends to count. Well, that’s the price of beauty, I thought, pushing up my high teased hair. My hair looked better black than hers would anywaya.

I broke my hand away from Char's and crossed my arms, my normal "safety habit" as we call it. Maybe I wouldn't feel so odd if Char had on clothes more like mine and less like the many girls swarming the backstage exit, hoping to catch a glimpse of the great JB. No, I’m not self-conscious; I just feel safer and much more at home if I’m with my friends, than people who just think I’m worth less than the stuff stuck to their shoes. I don’t have a problem ignoring them, id just rather be more comfortable.

Just by looking at us, right now you could never tell that we were here together. Actually, you could barley even tell Char from all the other fans, with her purple JB shirt and her shorts. When I say shorts, I mean SHORTS. Like those short-a*s shorts that look like they could get a person in trouble for being too short. Yep, she fit in just fine. I, on the other hand, stuck out like a sore thumb. And that's just how I like it. I had on a neon pink hello kitty tank top and a black tutu over blue leggings, leading right down to a pair of black ballet flats. In addition to the steezy clothes, I had a flat diamond necklace, three sterling silver earrings on each ear, one on my nose, and a single spider bite ring on the right side of my lip. I had, also, thrown a myriad of bracelets on my arms, and a small pink clip-on bow with a skull on it into my hair.

Once we reached the entrance to the backstage area, we flashed out VIP passes at the security guard and he let us through. Backstage wasn't anything special. Just a lot of expensive looking equipment and many people running around with clipboards and headsets.

"OHMIGOD!!! THERE HE IS" screeched Char, as she took off to our right. 

I jogged behind her, trying to keep up. Her excitement gave her more energy than I could muster, so by the time I got to them, Char was already gushing over how amazing he was. When he noticed me, Justin turned to me with a smile on his face.

"Hi! I'm Justin" he said, extending his hand. When I started to roll my eyes, he scratched the back of his neck nervously and added, "Well, you probably already knew that. So, thanks for coming to the show!"

"Yeah, well, you’re so amazing, we just had to see you" Char cut in. I hadn't even realized that Justin had lost focus on Charlotte when I came over, but, obviously, Char had. "Could I get your autograph!?"

"Umm, sure" Justin replied, dazed. It was almost as though he had forgotten she was there. "But, I don’t have a pen, could you run to my dressing room down the hall and grab it for me? Thanks."

Charlotte had taken off down the hall even before Justin had finished his sentence. I watched her leave, and when I turned back Justin was staring at me. Once he was caught, he dropped his gaze and fiddled with his hands.

"Soooo.... She seems like a handful" Justin broke the silence nervously.

"You have no idea" I mumbled under my breath. I jerked my head up when I heard Justin suddenly laugh.

"Well, you seem pretty normal. I think that’s cool. That you don’t hang all over me, I mean. Most girls who come to concerts aren't like you" he said while giving me a quick once-over. I shifted my weight uncomfortably, until I realized that he wasn't hitting on me; he was admiring me.

After that, there was a silence. Not an uncomfortable silence. I glanced up at him, only to see that he was looking back at me. I was suddenly very glad that I hadn't reminded char about the sharpie in my back pocket. When we made eye contact, a crooked smile crept across his lips. Suddenly my gaze shifted from his eyes to his lips. Then, on a sudden impulse, I lifted my head higher and touched my lips lightly to his. I could feel his shock, but he made no attempt to pull away. I took that as a sign to go on and I pressed my lips firmly onto his. This time, instead of just feeling shocked; he kissed me back, sweet and hard. I lifted my hands up, wrapping them around his neck, and tangling them in his hair. I felt his strong arms around my waist, as we both pulled each other deeper into the kiss. I snaked my tongue out and he did the same, all the while he was sucking on my lip ring, making the kiss all the more passionate. 

Suddenly, he pulled away, looking stunned. I was surprised and sad at the sudden loss of him. A thought hit me, and I pulled out the sharpie, grabber his hand, and wrote my number on the back of it. I looked back up at him, expecting either anger and disgust, or his gentle eyes and cocky grin. I was met with neither. He looked absolutely stunned. And not just stunned, but, almost, terrified. Then he shook his head, apparently at a loss for words. He looked back and forth apparently scanning the area for any bystanders. Once he assured that no one was around he turned back, sadness in his face.

"I’m sorry" he whispered, then turn and ran down the hall; leaving me feeling more alone than ever.