Chapter Twenty-Two

Amanda sat on the couch with Dharma as I reheated a few slices of pizza. She was eying me like a hawk, but I ignored her while the microwave slowly counted down to zero. I finally looked at her when I heard her foot tapping on the floor.

 

"What," I asked. "It's almost done."

 

"You wouldn't be taking forever if we were going to your show," Amanda commented, glaring at me. "You're being very mean to me."

 

"You're being cranky," I countered as I leaned back on the wall. "Did you ever go back to bed like I told you to?"

 

"Of course not. I tried, but I told you I was too excited to sleep."

 

"Well, I'm not as excited as you and you know that I sleep whenever I can manage to fall asleep," I said with a sigh.

 

"I know," Amanda muttered. "But you're still taking forever."

 

"We're walking up to the show so that I don't have to worry about finding a parking spot and having to pay for one. It'll take us about twenty minutes or so to get there."

 

"We're walking? Since when?"

 

"Since this morning when I decided that I didn't want to have to deal with a bunch of idiotic drivers before the show," I answered. "I don't think you want to deal with them, either, and it'll be a lot quicker if we walk."

 

Amanda simply nodded, looking down at Dharma as she pet her.

 

"Dharma's going to have to stay here," I said. "Hopefully her and Tux will get along while we're gone, but I think Tux is going to spend the afternoon sleeping."

 

"Does he ever do anything but sleep," Amanda asked, looking back up at me.

 

"Give him some catnip and he'll be like a kit all over again," I laughed. "He really isn't as lazy as he seems; he's actually quite active when doing something he likes."

 

"Like a certain human I know," Amanda replied, staring at me.

 

I laughed and shrugged.

 

"I guess you're right on that one."

 

"You know I'm right," Amanda sighed.

 

I just smiled. The microwave beeped as it reached zero, making Amanda smile as well. I grabbed my pizza and sat down on the couch next to Amanda.

 

"Did you already eat," I asked before taking a bite of my pizza.

 

"Too nervous to eat," Amanda said, giving me one of her half-smiles.

 

"You should try to eat something," I said. "It's going to be hours before we're back here for you to get something else to eat."

 

"I know..."

 

I watched as Amanda let out a sigh and stood up. Dharma followed her to the kitchen before heating up a single slice of pizza.

 

"I think I eat pizza way too much," I said as I stared at my pizza. "I eat half a pizza every time I work, and I'm always eating those Celeste pizzas at home..."

 

"You're just a food junkie," Amanda replied.

 

"That's true," I laughed. "At least, it is when I eat."

 

"You and me both," Amanda said with a nod. "I think we need to eat before going on our computers... We get way too involved in what we do and end up passing out in the midst of what we're doing."

 

I laughed and nodded as I finished another slice of my pizza. Amanda took hers out of the microwave before it reached zero.

 

"I think I just burnt mine..." she said as she inspected it.

 

"How long did you put it in there for?"

 

"Um...about a minute, I think."

 

I laughed and shook my head.

 

"Eh, whatever," Amanda said before taking a bite. "It's still edible and good tasting."

 

Dharma was staring up at us again, waiting for one of us to drop some or cave into her cute act and give her some. Neither of us did, so she laid down at Amanda's feet while we finished eating. Amanda was the first one to finish since she was only eating one slice, but I finished shortly after. We washed our hands before making sure we had everything. It would have been terrible if we got to the concert and ended up forgetting the tickets.

 

We put our phones, money, tickets and anything else we felt like bringing in my purse. Amanda had her camera and MP3 in my purse; I had the same. My music was already on, Tokio Hotel blaring from my headphones. It was always one; the only time I didn't have music on was when I was at work. When I woke up in the morning, I would turn on my MP3 and turn off my stereo that I left on every night. I listened to it throughout the school day, keeping the volume as low as possible, and then would listen to music on my computer when I got home as my MP3 charged.

 

I double checked the wire to my headphones, adjusting the position behind me before slipping my MP3 into my back pocket; I always had the wire running behind me, under my shirt so that the wire didn't get caught on anything; I hated when my headphones got ripped from my ears because the wire got caught on something. Once I had made sure that I was completely situated, I smiled at Amanda. She smiled back at me, handing me the keys to the room so that I could put them in my purse.

 

"Ready to go, love," I asked as I zipped my purse shut.

 

"Yes, dear," she answered. "I've been ready for years."

 

We linked our arms together and walked out of the hotel room. Dharma tried to follow Amanda, but we pushed her back into the room.

 

"We'll be back," Amanda promised before kissing her nose. "See you later tonight."

 

We shut the door and proceeded to walk down the hallway to the elevator, the smiles still on our faces. Amanda was starting to shake in excitement.

 

"Those Jonas boys had better be ready for you," I commented with a smile.

 

Amanda simply laughed as we stepped into the elevator, the doors closing behind us.