"I thought you'd have a plate of food already."
Adonis laughed and playfully pretended to slap the ass of his best friend as he faked a horrible lap dance. That was until he heard the sputtering cough of their bus engine choke out its last noise.
"This is beginning to feel like Wrong Turn movies," Jae groaned and threw his head back. AJ was thrown forward as Larry slammed on the breaks, catching himself before he fell and made his way off of the bus after his best friend and sister. Adonis told everyone that it would have been much better to just go in on a new tour bus; but the way to go clearly was "fix" everything and now they were in some unfamiliar territory, possibly on the verge of being Jeepers Creepers food. Not cool. Not cool at all.
"Next thing you know, we're going to run into Leatherface." Calliope commented, causing Adonis to chuckle.
"Oh come on you guys. This is definitely the exact plot of the second Jeepers Creepers movie. Bus and all." He sighed, not wanting to burst anyone's bubble. Of course he, his best friend, and his sister would all mention something about horror. They were all horror movie buffs; hell Jae even had Jason Voorhees on his arm. He'd tried to talk Don into getting his favorite villain Freddy Kreuger on his leg, but AJ didn't know how down for that he was just yet.
The five mile trek was nothing that could break Adonis' cheery spirit. He strutted down the highway with his friends and bandmates, dance-walking and singing the Krusty Krab pizza song as they made their way along the stretch of highway.
"Okay, but is anyone else just ready to get something in their stomach?" AJ questioned as they came to the town sign.
Welcome to Rosewood, Population 1,200. Small towns always made AJ smile. There was something about the small, rural areas that he enjoyed and slightly envied. Being a kid with famous parents in a huge city like L.A was nice, but small towns were different. They were a lot more communal and had a way more friendly vibe. Guess that was just what happened when your world is small enough to know everyone.
"Can you smell that? I smell BBQ!" Jae commented, and with that he was off into the distance, leaving him and the rest of the band behind.
"Small towns are exactly the kind of place where people get killed. This is basically a horror movie," Cal muttered and Adonis laughed as Jae disappeared into the distance at the smell of good cooking. Usually, Adonis would be the one in Jae's shoes, so it was weird to see the roles switched up. They hadn't reversed much however. because by the time they'd gotten to him, Adonis would have already eaten a plate of mac and cheese, a deep fried Snickers and a funnel cake by now.
"I thought you'd have a plate of food already." Adonis chuckled, putting an arm around Jae's shoulder when he handed him a flyer. An awareness fair huh? How could anyone in a small town like this be unaware of anything? More like a 'Get It Together' fair.
Apparently he had somewhat switched bodies with his best friend and sister because they'd swarmed the food trucks and stalls even faster thn he had. For once, someone had finally bested him when it came to food.
"This place is fucking lit!" Jae screamed as he bit into a fried prawn. Of course, if there was shrimp involved, Jae was going to be all for it.
"I'm probably gonna grab a pretzel or something and scope out the town a little bit. I shall return. Catch up with you guys in a bit." AJ made his way around the fair to one of the many food stands for a soft pretzel with cheese and a mangonada; after which he decided to walk around and check out the rest of the tiny town. Adonis had come across a small dog park; where owners who were too busy with their pets to enjoy the Awareness Fair were throwing sticks and tennis balls to their furry friends. He'd also stumbled upon numerous small businesses (most of which were closed due to owners being at the fair) and -- to even further pique his interests -- a dance studio. AJ couldn't dance to save his life. In all honesty, the only thing making the studio as interesting to him as it was being a gorgeous brunette dancing around the room. She hadn't even noticed him come in and Adonis didn't want to interrupt her routine; therefore, he stood back, taking a seat in a nearby chair to watch her move swiftly across the floor to the music.
"How did you even get in here?!"
While the rest of her peers were attending the Awareness Fair, Kellie Anne Nicholson was taking full advantage of the empty studio to practice her solo for the upcoming dance competition. Kehlani's "Gangsta" was playing over the speakers for what seemed like the hundreth time, the girl's strong muscles aching over the repeated motions of the dance.
Her curvaceous, athletic body moved along to the music in a sucession of clean-cut steps: pliés, aereals, jetés, splits... All moves carefully calculated and executed to perfection. Right as she was doing one of the last turns of the routine, her brown eyes fell on the literal description of a tall, dark and handsome stranger sitting on the nearby chair, light-colored eyes greedily following her every move.
The brunette let out a loud shriek of surrpise, eyes wide with worry. The stranger in front of her was nothing short of drop-dead gorgeous: with perfectly styled jet-black hair, an athletic build, and the fashion sense of one of those popular punk rockstars. But no matter how goddamn attractive he was, the fact still stood that this stranger had not only quietly snuck into the studio, he had also been watching her for God knew how long without Kel noticing. And that shit was
scary.
"Oh my God! Who
are you?! How did you even
get in here?!" she cried out, voice dripping with panic.
"Shit, I'm sorry!"
Adonis jumped a little bit at the woman's reaction, but he also couldn't help but laugh. Who wouldn't spaz out a bit when it came to random people watching you dance? Especially when it was a random stranger and you weren't expecting them to be there.
"Shit, I'm sorry!" He shook his head as he stood up, backing closer towards the door.
"I didn't mean to scare you. The door was open and I just thought I'd watch." Adonis chuckled nervously as he ran his fingers through his hair; his British accent on and basically booming throughout the now quiet room. .
"It's--" he started before stopping to think of the right word --
"Interesting to see you dance like that seeing as I look like an injured lemur." He laughed a little before holding a hand out for her to shake.
"I'm Adonis." He introduced himself. Although he couldn't very well say he and his band just crashed outside of their town, so he settled for:
"My friends and I are just touring and sightseeing in cities we've never been." He smiled. And to be honest, he wasn't telling a complete lie. They
were touring and some of they cities they'd drove through none of them had been to before. AJ was just sure to leave out the fact that he and his group of friends were in a famous rock band whose tour bus broke down. She didn't need to know all that -- yet.
"I'm not sure why you guys would visit this town."
The young man's last comment brought a smile to Kellie's face, and visibly eased some of the tension between them. Although she was hesitant, the stranger's demeanor seemed open, honest and friendly, so she figured the least she could do was be polite while keeping in mind where the nearest exits were located. Of course, it didn't hurt that he had the looks of a Greek god.
"Kellie Anne," the girl shook his hand and replied quietly, in a completely different demeanor from the passionate dancer pouring her heart out in every move just a minute previously.
"And to be quite honest with you, I'm not sure why you guys would visit this town. There's not much to do around here."
"I like little towns like this."
All AJ could do was chuckle, running his fingers through his hair. He could tell the girl was a bit hesitant, and confused about him being there. With her in the dance studio and just in the small town of Rosewood in general. Again, it wasn't like he and the rest of the band were there on their on whim. Hell he would have loved to be in the next few states, or even towns over on a bus with some air conditioning and a bed. But he would take the time with his band in this unfamiliar place to enjoy some new things and meet some new people.
It was then that it hit him that she had absolutely no idea who he was.
'Whoa, this is kinda weird.' He thought to himself. If he'd have stumbled into some random dance studio with any other girl, she'd have probably been screaming, asking for pictures and calling her friends by now. It would be nice to actually be able to be in a town where they didn't get swarmed by paparazzi and chased by groupies the whole time.
"I like little towns like this." Adonis smiled.
"There's something about the togetherness that you just don't see that much of in L.A." He explained, while trying not to give too much of who he was away.
"And that isn't completely true. There's that awareness fair going on in the center of town. It's pretty nice, all my friends are raving over the food." He chuckled as he took a bite of his soft pretzel.
"I was gonna head back if you wanted to check it out?" Adonis suggested. He'd been gone checking out the town for quite a while -- long enough to get dark even -- and it was more than likely that his sister and friends were wondering where he went.
"Um, sure! I would love to."
His mention of LA earned him Kellie's curiosity. Although she'd been born in Hialeah, moved to Palm Beach for high school, then to Rosewood for college. The brunette had been raised in Silicon Valley, and had frequented LA for dancing competitions. It would definitely be interesting to converse with someone who had an idea of where she came from -unlike most of the Rosewood locals, who hadn't been ventured further than 25 miles outside of town.
In all honesty, Kellie had never considered attending the awareness fair in the first place. Her understanding of the event was that it was more so for young adults going through personal issues and wanting to meet other like-minded people in a fun, relaxed environment. And although God knew she had issues indeed, finding solace in strangers was definitely not the way she wanted to deal with things. But Adonis was definitely cute, he had her interest
and her body was begging her for a break.
Finally, the girl spoke up.
"Um, sure! I would love to," Kellie said with a small smile.
"Let me just take a quick shower, though. I've been dancing for at least two hours now, and the last think I want is to expose you to any foul body odors." she added with a laugh, brown eyes shining with their usual softness and warmth. And with one last look, she turned on her heel and walked off in the direction of the studio's bathroom
Kellie Anne emerged from the showers less than ten minutes later, now dressed in white shorts, a white halter crop top and white Converse sneakers. Her long locks of hair were tied back in a high ponytail, and she'd managed to sneak in enough time to emphasize her eyes with eyeliner, fill in her brows, and apply to her lips a fresh coat of dark red lipstick. Her dance gear remained safely tucked away in her locker, her only important belongings held inside the small bronze purse hanging from her shoulder. Slightly shaking with nerves, the young woman approached her visitor until she stood right in front of him.
"Ready?" she asked Adonis with a shy smile, biting the corner of her lower lip.
"Who are all of you guys?"
AJ rocked from heel to toe as he ate his pretzel and awaited an answer from the woman he knew now as Kellie Anne. He usually wouldn't have invited someone who he'd just imposed on and seemed to be minding their own business; however, the gorgeous girl seemed as if she needed a bit of a break from dominating the dance floor. And it was dark, so he couldn't very well let a lady like herself go out alone at night. Adonis was sure to keep cool and collected when Kellie agreed to attend the fair, although he couldn't deny the enthusiasm bubbling over inside of him slightly.
"Awesome. Take your time gettin' all dolled up, and I'll be here when you're done, love." Adonis' accent rang out as he lowkey flirted with the dancing queen. Pros and cons of being such a flirt and having almost no filter when it came to promiscuity lately. As Kellie bounced away to the shower room, Don pulled out his cellphone and sent a group text to his best friend and baby sister.
♬Yo sorry I dipped out so long! Lost track of time, but I'm on my way back now! ♬
AJ slipped his phone back into his pocket and couldn't help but bite his lip at Kellie in her new all white
outfit paired with a cute high-pony.
"Yeah I'm ready, love. Let's hit the town." He smirked a little bit, holding the door open for Kellie like the gentleman he was. It wasn't a long walk back to the awareness fair and by the time he and Kellie had gotten there, the panel with the mayor was just about over and very much empty except eight or nine people. Lame. Not too far away though he spotted Meadow with who looked to be a small group of locals chatting with the rest of the band.
"I see my friends!" Adonis started for the group of people, waving as he approached.
"It looks like I'm not the only one that's been getting acquainted with the friendly locals!" AJ chuckled running his fingers through his hair. AJ chuckled a little bit before gesturing towards his guest.
"Are we all talking about how our shitty bus broke down earlier today?" Adonis nodded, remembering that they were gonna have to spend some nights in a hotel.
"Uhm, by the way, this is Kellie. We met when I scared the shit out of her at the dance studio." He added, laughing.
"Kellie this is Cassidy, Meadow, Jae, Calliope and Luke." He introduced.
"Sorry, if I sound rude, but who are all of you guys? Well other than the lovely Kimiko since she's already introduced herself."