Miles Apart - Sam Kiszka x OC fanfic

CHAPTER 2: FROM ACROSS THE ROOM

My alarm beeped loud, waking me from possibly the groggiest state I've ever been in. I grabbed my phone, checking the time and any messages I missed as I slept. The clock read 9:30, and Lilli was picking me up at 11:00, so I didn't have as much time as I needed to mentally and physically prepare for the potentially tumultuous day I was not ready to have. I sleepily waddled my way to the kitchen, checking to make sure Peppermint had food in her bowl on my way there and stopped in front of my kettle turning it on. As I stood there zoning out on nothing in particular as I waited for the water to boil, I heard my phone ring from my bedroom. I ran over and grabbed it to see that Lilli was face timing me.

"Morning," I smiled as her face gleamed through the phone.

"Morning, pretty lady! I'm on my way to Broadway Bagel. You want a breakfast sandwich?" I laughed at her early morning optimism and nodded.

"Yes, please. Can you get me whatever you get?"

"Of course," she nodded, "We're leaving around 11:30, but is it okay if I stop by a little early? I'm just out and about and figured you could use the pep talk."

I laughed again, setting my phone on the counter as I poured my coffee.

"Yeah, that's fine, and thank you, by the way," I said.

"For the food or the pep talk?"

"Both," I admitted.

"Of course, babe. I'll see you soon," she chuckled, hanging up the phone.

I said my goodbyes, drinking my coffee as I put my phone back down. I carried the now half-full mug into the bathroom, turning on the shower. I downed the mug, though I debated whether or not I should just bring it into the shower with me, and hopped in once it was hot. Ten minutes later, I turned the water off, stepped out of the shower, and immediately headed into my room, knowing I had minimal time. I rummaged through my clothes, subconsciously wanting the boys to think I'd gotten more attractive, and eventually settled on a black, slim-fitting dress with fishnets underneath. NPR really didn't care what we wore, as long as we fit the aesthetic of whoever we were interviewing as it made more people pay attention to us.

Running back into the bathroom, I turned on my curler and quickly blow-dried my long brown hair. I curled each strand soon after, and then headed back to my room to do my makeup. About a minute after I sat down to fix my face, I heard my front door open.

"Arabella?" I heard my best friend call.

"In here!" I yelled back. The small girl quickly walked into my bedroom, tossing a still-warm breakfast sandwich at me, doing a little twirl after she'd done so.

"You look hot as fuck... almost as if you're excited to see a certain Kiszka boy," I smirked, looking her up and down. She had on a black, fit-forming dress with black fishnets underneath, Her blonde hair fell long and she even had a little eyeliner on, which was rare for her.

"Hey, shoes off!" I yelled at her, pointing at her mid-calf NakedWolf boots.

"Sorry, sorry," she said as she shuffled her shoes off, "and no! I look like this because I felt like it, not because of Jake."

"Hey, remember when you gave him a blowjob around under my treehouse and my mom caught you?" I laughed, further provoking her as I munched on my breakfast. She hit my arm hard as she took a seat next to me on the ground, checking herself out in the full-length mirror sat in front of us before sticking her tongue out at me.

"That was nothing. Remember when I walked in on you and Danny doing the deed on my bed?" she giggled. I laughed, remembering it all vividly.

"Yeah, I guess I sort of homie-hopped, huh?" I sarcastically said, fully knowing that that was exactly what I did. She rolled her eyes before glancing down at her phone.

"You have half an hour. You think you'll be ready on time?" I nodded, grabbing her phone as she whined, reaching for it. I avoided her hands, opening Spotify and putting on Greta's first album; From The Fires. She bopped along as Safari Song rung through my small apartment, and I continued to do my makeup. A few flicks of eyeliner and a fully devoured breakfast sandwich later, I was ready. I nodded at Lilli to stand up as I walked out of my room, grabbing my bag and shoving my Q-cards, keys, wallet, and perfume inside. I picked up my black leather coat from off the chair next to me and quickly laced up my platform docs before opening up the door for Lilli.

"You ready?" I asked.

"Yup!" Lilli yelled from my room, sliding her boots back on. She rushed through the open door and I followed her, locking the door behind me.

Lilli and I clambered into the front of her small Honda Accord and began our route to Citi Field, the venue that held the annual Gov Ball music festival, which was to start in just 8 hours with Greta Van Fleet as their openers. I sat in the passenger seat as we drove to pick up my assistant, Kacey. My mind was racing again, unnecessary nerves clouding my brain.

"Hey," Lilli said, turning down the music, "you're going to be fine."

Even if it was simple, that made me feel better. For the next 10 minutes, we jammed out to the Greta songs we already knew, yelling the lyrics for a full half an hour until we got to Kacey's place. The three of us lived in Bedford, so it was nearly 20 minutes to the City Field, but we stopped at Starbucks to get coffee, which made it 30. It was far past 12:00 once we got there, but no one was upset as the event didn't start for another few hours.

The three of us gathered our stuff and left the car, heading towards the back gate. We flashed the security guard our badges gifted from NPR, and he let us in, pointing us to the help desk to get signed in.

"Hey, are you guys with NPR?" I turned around to see a tall, older man asking.

"Yeah! I'm Arabella Ashford, this is my manager Lilli Dempt, and my assistant Kacey Reynolds," I said, shaking the hand of the man.

"Perfect, here are your backstage passes. Make sure to keep them on you so you don't get kicked out for being back here," he chuckled, handing us lanyards with a small piece of paper on them. "I'm Jason, by the way. I'm the head director of the Gov Ball, so if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask." He said as he walked away, motioning for us to follow him. He leads us to a small tent on the outskirts of the stadium. The tent had the classic NPR set up, filled with a long couch and an armchair, a homey carpet underneath, and a fake bookshelf as the backdrop.

"This is where you'll do the interviews for the bands, who all know where this is located so don't worry about them finding you, and once you're done with the work portion of it, don't hesitate to join the audience for the show or even head backstage to watch from the wings," Jason explained.

I smiled at him as I placed my bag behind the armchair.

"And there are complimentary snacks just a few tents down, so feel free to help yourself at any point," he finished.

"Thanks so much, Jason." I smiled again.

"Of course! Have fun, guys!" We all waved bye to him as he returned to the stage for pre-checks. I picked up the schedule from the table next to the couch, checking out what was in store. I knew I'd also be interviewing Tame Impala, as well as the Arctic Monkeys, but I didn't know the order of the day.

"Okay guys, so the lineup starts with Lilli, who's interviewing MGMT at 1:30, and Cage The Elephant at 2:30, followed by me. I've got the 3:30 slot for Arctic Monkeys, Tame Impala at 4:30, and Greta at 6:00. The paper says we've got 45 minutes for each sitting, and half an hour break between Tame Impala and Greta. Everyone cool with that?" Lilli and Kacey both nodded, taking a seat on the couch across from me. The three of us made small talk about the following day in an attempt to calm our nerves before chatting with the biggest musicians of our time.

1:30 hit, and with Kacey sitting behind the camera, I didn't have much else to do, so I walked around, exploring the space. I entered the snack tent, grabbing a few glasses of water as the guys in MGMT had requested some. I began to make my way back to our home for the day, taking in my surroundings when I caught a glimpse of two people looking at me from across the venue. I could've sworn I recognized them, but it was too far away for me to notice. I brushed it off, sitting back down next to Kacey. I smiled up at her before checking my phone. I had a few texts, but one, in particular, caught my attention.

*new notification from the twinz*

Jakey🤪 - "Did Danny actually just see you at the Gov Ball or is he hallucinating again?"