It was time for a big festival in Germany. Three days we would spend here and I was really excited. First because there was a lot of bands here that I liked, and second… I WOULD PLAY ON THE SAME FUCKING FESTIVAL AS THEM! Shit. It was just so unreal!
"Hey Essie, I just got the schedule and guess what" Oscar said and popped his head inside my dressing room.
"what?" I asked and looked at him.
"They changed your set time" he said with a grin, and I looked confused. Why would he be happy about that?
"What?!" I asked and took the paper from his hand. Then I saw it. I was going to close up the second day. Close up.
"OH MY GOD" I screamed and he laughed. I jumped around and danced and felt happy.
"OH MY GOD" I screamed again and I jumped over and hugged him.
I was walking around backstage when I suddenly heard familiar tones and looked towards one of the big stages. I sneaked up and stood side stage and just stared at Austin while he got the whole crowd to sing Second & Sebring with him and Aaron. He looked so happy and I smiled. Then he looked at me and first he didn’t see me, and then he looked back and looked a bit surprised. He looked at me and held out his hands in a “What are you doing here?” and I just smiled. The others followed his eyes and I smiled even more, and they all greeted me. When they had finished their set Austin came over and he looked at me.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I play tomorrow and when I was walking around I heard the familiar tones to Second & Sebring, so I sneaked up here to watch" I said and laughed a little. He smiled, wrapped a sweaty arm around my shoulder and messed up my hair.
"Sneaky" he teased and I let out a small shriek and a laugh.
"Hi Essie, what are you doing here?" Alan asked and smiled.
"I’m playing tomorrow night" I said and nodded.
"Tomorrow night? I thought you played during the day?" Tino asked.
"So you knew she was here?" Austin asked.
"Not today, but yeah… I knew she would play" he shrugged.
"They moved my set, so I’m closing up tomorrow" I said and grinned.
"Shit, that’s nice" Alan said and looked impressed.

I was walking back towards our greenrooms and the dining hall when I ran into Oscar.
"Hey Ossie, you know Of Mice and Men" I said and gestured towards the guys. He nodded and held out a hand and Tino was the first one to shake his hand.
"So you’re Essie’s new tech guy" he said.
"yeah, I used to be friends with her brother Mike so we kinda knew each other from before" he said and smiled. I smiled and glanced up at the others and I saw that Austin and Aaron both looked skeptical.

- - -

Austin’s POV

There was just something about him that made me just go like “Nope. I don’t like you”. But I had no idea why. I just didn’t like him. And somehow I just hated the fact that he got to spend time with her and I didn’t. Did I just think like that? That I wanted to spend more time with her? Wow. I looked at her and I just stared. Did I really think like that right now?
Was I… developing feelings? Or was it something else? Shit… What if I fell for her? For Essie? Suddenly she looked up and her smile faded.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing" I said and shook my head. Nothing at all.
It was about time for her to get on stage and I was a little bit excited to see what kind of light show she would have. Or Oscar would have. It was almost dark outside and she had the big stage. Which was kinda cool. Then we heard the first tunes and she came up on stage and I actually got surprised. She had her hair in two buns that made her look like Minnie Mouse. She had black leather leggings, or pants, I couldn’t really see that. And she had one of the white Of Mice and Men tanks on. The one with a flower ampersand.
"HALLO DEUTSCHLAND" she called out and the crowd screamed. Oscar made the lights move a little and it looked really cool.
"Lassen Sie uns diese Partei begonnen" she said next and I hd no idea what she was saying. Then the music started and the lights just exploded into a colorful dance. The crowd was dancing, Alan was looking really excited and I just stared. Completely amazed. This was nothing like I had seen her shows before. This was big. This was a party.
"I have to admit, Oscar is pretty good" Alan said.
"Yeah, even I have to admit it… But I don’t like him" I said.
"Why not?" Alan asked and looked a bit confused.
"Nah, I just… I just don’t like him" I shrugged.
"You’re just feeling threatened with your place with Essie" Alan teased.
"I do not" I snapped and looked at him.
"And with that I know for sure that you are" Alan said and laughed.