The Flight Of The Phoenix

Chapter- 2

The hours seemed to fly by rather quickly and soon it was a little passed nine. I leaned eagerly over the edge of the bar trying to get a good look at the stage. The seats at the bar were completely empty since everyone had flocked to be closer to the stage since Phoenix was about to come on. They really must be big... 

The lights dimmed and shrill screams and woo-hoos flooded the cramped space. Blue lights began to shoot from the overhangs above the stage swirling in every direction. 

"PHILADELPHIA!!!!" The drums started in an upbeat, steady rhythm and the whole crowd began to clap along. My heart leaped and just then the lights came on. 

My mouth fell open. Oh my goodness... He was GORGEOUS. I don't believe I've ever seen someone like him in my whole life. The gleaming jet black hair, piercing blue eyes... that I could see from where I was. 

Those eyes.... I had only seen a pair of eyes like that once before in my life. His arms were completely covered in tribal like tattoos, so many lines, so intricate. He had a silver ring on every one of his fingers and a black choker with a silver cross hanging from it. 

Tight black pants, black converse and a cut off black tank, showing he had more tribal on each side of his rib cage and on his rather muscular chest. I didn't even notice Levi or any of the other members. 

This man was a piece of art. He was enchanting. 

"After this show tonight we have one more show on our 'From the Ashes' tour. It's been such a great, fulfilling time and we are so glad to be here with you tonight Philly!!! Let's f*****g do this!!!" 

I threw my hands up and screamed with everyone else. 

"You're swooning." And right then the music blasted through the speakers. I looked over at Anthony the other security guard who was like a brother to me and scowled. I mouthed the words 'na-uh' and started to wipe the bar down. He grinned widely and walked away. 

Phoenix played amazing music and all I wanted to do was jump out into the crowd and dance my butt off. I wanted to scream and shout and let it all out... Haha. I kept looking up at Mr. Singer guy too he was way too good looking and way too out of my league. A guy like that was never single anyway…..

Or banging every girl he met. I bet he had women at his feet.

*insert large disappointed emoji here….*

The band didn't come off stage until 10:30 and soon after, the bar was hopping. I watched as all the little teeny boppers swarmed the Merch stands and then left. For an hour and a half straight after that people continued to order drinks and then finally it died down. 

Suddenly Levi and the rest of the band members walked out of the room behind the stage and came over to sit down at the bar. I watched as Mr. singer man lit up a cig and put his feet on the bar. Everyone else started ordering drinks. 

At that point Max had been with me for the past hour because it got so busy, he took half the orders for me. 

I was surprised that the band was sitting here amongst other people. Half of them were guys and ignoring them and then there were the few girls who wouldn't stop staring and smiling in their direction. 

I tried my best not to look up and stare but of course curiosity got the best of me. I had an excuse because they were starting to hold a conversation with Max. Their undivided attention was pointed our way. 

As soon as I made my way to stand in front of Mr. singer I glanced up at him. Only to find him looking directly at me. "No thanks ma'am. I don't really drink." Was the first thing out of his lips.. His perfect pink and supple lips... 

"Luna, you're drooling..." I could feel my whole body grow hot and the tip of my ears started to burn. Anthony had returned and he was now sitting at the bar guffawing. 

Asswipe..

The rest of the guys were laughing too and Max couldn't help himself but laugh along. Worst of all, Mr. singer guy was grinning so hard I assumed it must have hurt. But his beautiful perfectly white teeth were a lovely sight to see as well, so it kind of made up for my embarrassment. 

30 minutes later and we were the only ones sitting there for the club had closed. I had made myself busy with cleaning up around, behind the bar and mixing drinks for the guys. Max told me to take my apron off, clock out and come join in. 

I sighed and did as he said. Walking back out I noticed Mr. Singer guy was watching me. Balls-ily I walked over and sat next to him. "Max, make me a trash can please." I looked at Mr. Singer guy and raised an eyebrow. "What's your name?" I was tired of referring to him as 'Mr. Singer guy.' "I'm Malakai."

One of the guys who I had heard be called Holden laughed out loud over hearing us. "Malakai- Malakai watch out for that guy." Levi and the rest of them including a now drunk Max started to laugh some more. 

I frowned back at them, mind you I was now on my second trash can. "Why, cause he doesn't drink!? That's so weird." I was getting a little tipsy and I was losing my lid a bit. 

The guys just laughed and went back to their conversation with Max. Malakai chuckled. "Yeah I have more class than this crap alcohol. I would never drink a 'Trash can' 

I hiccuped and eyeballed him up. "Is that so? You seem too good to be sitting with the rest of us..." Blahhh that was so stupid... Malakai stopped chuckling and looked at me seriously.

 A feeling of panic washed over me and I bit my lip. Max had walked over to where we were sitting and patted us both on the back startling us.

"YOU SILLY KIDS! Be nice to each other, this is a great night! Let's all be great friends!" .... So drunk. 

Malakai chuckled again and smiled. "Of course Maxa-man. We are only joking with each other." Max smiled drunkenly and said 'GOOD' before pouring himself another drink of whatever he was drinking... 

Shit... I drove here... And now I was drunk. I got caught up in the fun and had only wanted to stay because of Malakai and now I had just insulted him. He had just sounded so cocky insulting my drink, it hit a nerve. He may have been good looking but he was a tad full of himself. I guess when you look like him with girls crawling all over you it was normal..

"Something wrong?" I came back down from my thoughts to find Malakai had moved a bit closer and had his chin in his hand staring at me, almost darkly. I swallowed hard. "Uhm... I'm drunk and have to go home... I'm usually not this stupid."

I talked way too much when I was drunk. "Usually? Are you sure?" I glared at him. "Yeah that's right. USUALLY." He grinned so sheepishly that my belly filled with little butterflies. 

"Looks like I'm the only one who can bring you home now huh. And come to think it's so weird that I didn't drink right?" 

Not only did he just make me look like a complete i***t, he made me feel crazy nervous thinking about him taking me home. Sitting in a car next to him. Id die. 

What the hell he was making me feel like I was 15 again. So giddy. So jumpy. So fan girl-ish. I bit my lip. I was unaware until I caught that devilish look in his eye again. He was getting great amusement out of my drunk frazzled self. 

Before I could say anything, he was informing Max, grabbing my arm, taking me to the office, grabbing my stuff and then leading me out the back of the club. 

"My car..." Was all I could manage. 

"I'll bring it to you tomorrow I have to be up early anyway for something." I wasn't plastered, but I was drunk enough to be feeling my feelings quite intensely and I felt like I was freaking out. 

I was just a dumb lightweight...

As I opened the door to his car and got in, I was overwhelmed by the smell of his cologne. I breathed in deeply and closed my eyes. He chuckled and I didn't notice that he was watching me the whole time. I must have been extremely slow getting in because when I looked over at him he had his head laid back against the seat and his hand on the wheel. 

"So where to?" I gave him my address and he put it in an app on his phone. Right after he started the car and began to drive. 

"So do you bring your car with you on tour?" He shook his head. "No we live here in Philly." My mouth dropped open wide. 

"Since when?" He was always grinning after anytime I said anything. 

"Since before we started the tour. We moved here to be closer to Levi's family. His dad owns a school here and is sick so we are going to be helping him out while we aren't recording or touring." 

I nodded. "Oh. Sounds cool..." I couldn't help but be nosy. I immediately felt sad knowing that I was on my way home and that this wouldn't happen again. I wanted to keep talking to Malakai and get to know him... Even though I had just met him the way I felt when I was around him was intoxicating... And it wasn't the alcohol. 

It grew silent for a few minutes. "Give me your keys and I'll leave your car in front of your building." Why was he was being so nice and caring to me when he didn't know me at all was a little weird but I liked it, even after I had been all rude to him. I know I didn't know him but my gut couldn't not trust him. 

As we pulled up in front of my house and the car stopped I started to feel the disappointment of the end of our night together creeping in on me. I turned to him and managed the best smile I could through the horrible feeling. "Thanks so much you rock." 

He half heartedly patted me on the shoulder. "No problem, can you make it in ok by yourself?" I nodded and then quickly opened my door and got out. 

I watched him watch me walk around the front of the car and then when I got to my front door, unlocked and opened it I turned to watch him smile at me, wave and then drive off.

The disappointment flooded through me and I sighed as I walked into the house and shut the door. Bummer....

It was quiet and dark inside and I knew my mom was already sound asleep I walked up the stairs as quietly as possible, tripping a few times and then finally making it to the second floor. 

Why was I so damn disappointed? Was it because I was drunk? What did I think was going to happen. Did I think he'd ask for my phone number? I was dumb. I need to forget everything that I had felt, forget him and never look back. 

*¥*

Oddly enough I opened my eyes right before my alarm clock went off. I threw my fist out and pounded on the off button. Thank The Lord my head didn't hurt. I mean I really didn't drink that much. 

I looked around, yawned and then sat up in bed. Suddenly remembering my car I hopped up and ran to my window. Surely enough my car was sitting in the driveway. I told Malakai to just put my key under my front mat on the porch. 

*siiighhhhhh* Another day of school, another day of work. I was suddenly overcome by irritation. This was my life! One fun night with a guy I didn't even know, that I was never going to see again was not going to ruin how I looked at my daily routine. This was how it always was d’ammit.

Fighting with myself and my moodiness I hurried myself to the bathroom. On the way there I looked in my mother's room only to find that it was empty. She must have had an early morning meeting today. Thankfully I had woken up on my own.

After my shower I made myself some pancakes and then grabbed my normal green juice. I actually had time to properly blow dry my hair this morning so I didn't feel like a wet mop heading out to my car. 

My keys had been placed under the doormat just like planned. I looked down at them in my hand while smiling, knowing that they had been in Malakai's hand. Knowing that he had driven my car... 

DUMB ME! For goodness sakes I was being so ridiculous. Enough swooning. Enough- enough-ENOUGH! ..... I opened my car and slammed myself down onto my seat, slamming the door behind me. 

I was in a hurry to get my mind preoccupied. School would be the perfect distraction. Id have time to sit myself down and drink my green juice before Mr. Evans came in and preoccupied my attention. 

Soon enough class had begun and my mind was working away absorbing his every word. For once in my life I was enjoying how slowly the time seemed to be going by. 

An hour later and I was on to my second class. Mrs. Stefan's was my favorite teacher. We got along very well and she had such a good sense of humor. She was always making everyone laugh. She loved to talk about her kids and the funny things that they did. 

As soon as she walked into the room she had a huge grin on her face. She was always a happy person but something was different about the way she looked this morning. Much more awake, excited almost. 

"GOOD MORNING everyone! I've got a surprise for you!" I immediately raised an eyebrow. 

"Unfortunately the owner of this school, Mr. Eric James Matthew has been sick for quite sometime. He is always here, almost everyday overseeing and working to make this school be all it can be. He has put his heart and soul into 'The Flaming Heart of Music.' But now his sickness has become worse and he won’t be leaving the hospital for sometime.

"So, he recruited in some top notch help. People who know all about creating music and making it all it can be. Who knew all about the music industry and what it means to be a musician."

My gut knotted. "Mr. Levi Matthew and Malakai Silas Owens of Phoenix!" 

At that moment, they both walked through the door. Everyone in the classroom began clapping and a few shouted with excitement and whistled. 

How was this possibly possible? My school was the school Malakai had been talking about. I was beyond flabbergasted and butterflies immediately erupted as soon as my eyes caught sight of his face. Crazy thing is, he looked right at me and grinned. 

I had been trying so hard to convince myself that I'd never be close to Malakai again like I was the following night, I had actually started to believe it, like I should. This was just all WAY too ironic. 

I couldn't keep my head up or my eyes on him. I kept nervously looking down at the pen I was twirling through my fingers. And when he wasn't talking and Levi had taken over, I had to glance up out of curiosity and just as I had thought he was looking right at me. 

I became so overwhelmed I mouthed the words 'what' and he mouthed back 'after.' After? After what? After class? Did he want to talk to me after class? 

Soon enough I found out. I Slowly waited for everyone including Mrs. Stefan's to walk out. She had stood and talked to both Levi and Malakai for a few minutes before hugging both of them and then she left with Levi both of them still chatting happily. 

"You." It came out accusingly. 

"Me? What about me?" I hadn't gotten up from my seat yet. I was scared to get close to Malakai again. He was like a giant positive magnet and I was negative. 

"You totally knew." He shook his head. "Now how in the world would I have known that this was your school and this your classroom?" 

I thought for a second and then immediately blurted out. "Maxwell!" Malakai chuckled loudly. "Oh no... You caught me. You're right." 

Again I was stunned. "Oh well.... Ok....so..." He had me so tongue tied all the time it drove me insane. 

He walked over to me and shook his head. "I can't believe you don't remember." I scrunched my face at him totally thrown off guard. 

"Remember what?" 

He leaned in even closer and moved his bangs over to the side of his face so I could completely see his eyes. "Me." 

Immediately a wave of emotion crashed over my entire being. "KAI!" Malakai Silas Owens........ As in Kai Owens.”

He smiled from ear to ear and my heart thudded against my chest. "Yes Luna. How quickly you forgot me. Hahahaha! Our little middle school romance wasn't memorable enough for you was it!?" 

I busted out laughing. "My moms gonna get a kick out of this one. I haven't seen Mava and Greg in months! They've all been so busy we don't visit with each other as much as we used to. And your parents told us you were off touring around the world. No one ever mentioned that you were in a band.... Let alone this huge band." 

Malakai smiled again. "Huge huh? Silly. I've been waiting to actually be able to talk to a sober you and see if you remembered me. Has it been that long? I guess 8 years is a long time...."

Right then students began to walk in for the next class. I got up and put my bag on my shoulder. 

"Yeah I guess you're right." We both walked out into the hall and stopped and turned to each other. 

"We should catch up. I have to stay here right now and I'm guessing you have more classes but I can pick you up this evening. Do you work?" 

I nodded. "Yeah I do. I work 5 days a week. Off every other weekend..." 

Malakai shook his head. "Not tonight. I'll let Max know. Pick you up at 6." With that he turned around and walked away. 

WOW. Get the heck out. Kai Owens. Malakai Silas Owens. How did I not put that together was beyond me. I didn't recognize him at all.... He was all grown up. He was a man. When I was 13 and he was 16 we had hung out all the time. He would bring me roses and candy and put it on my doorstep. 

We would watch movies together in his family room almost every day during the summer and go to carnivals and to the beach... And then my mom moved to Philadelphia with me. 3 years later Greg and Mava came to Philadelphia and opened up the Vertigo. Kai never came with....

I had been hoping so badly that he would. But by then he was 19 already. I figured he had started college or something... I knew he always loved music. 

Another odd thing, no one ever called him Malakai. Every single person called him Kai. All the time. Teachers, my mom, his parents and our friends. Was it dumb to say I forgot his name was actually Malakai? Maybe, but now I knew Hahahaha 

*¥*

As soon as I got home I hardcore dished to my mother. She was so stunned and excited about the whole situation. "I haven't seen that boy in years! It's so awesome that you two will get to hang out again. What a talented young man that one. I'm not surprised one bit that he's in a successful band."

My mother and I chatted for a while and then I went upstairs to take another shower and change. Waiting from 2-6 would seem like forever I knew. I was way too overly excited.... 

Sure enough by 5:50 I was biting my nails and when the doorbell rang I went shooting up off of the couch I had been sitting in the living room. I had been attempting to watch some tv but obviously my mind was elsewhere. 

"Hey." Malakai immediately greeted me with a grin. 

"Hey." I said back. 

"You all ready to go?" 

I nodded. "Let me grab my purse."

As we got into his black mercedes I couldn't help but admire it in the daylight. His windows were very tinted and he had chrome rims that shimmered in the rays of the sun. 

"So did you eat yet?" I glanced over at Malakai as we pulled out of my driveway. 

"No... Not yet." He smiled. "Great, I'm starving. I hope you don't mind, I'm vegan and I found a great vegan restaurant in the city." 

I suddenly became extremely excited. "SO AM I! Go figure right!?" He chuckled loudly. "That's pretty freaking cool!"

As we made our way into the city my favorite restaurant came into view. 'The greenery'. This was awesome, I was so relieved that I wouldn't have to deal with him eating any meat around me, I didn't think I would be able to handle it and I really liked him...

We had walked into the restaurant and asked to be seated out on the deck. They grew veggies and fruits outside it was so cool. 

After the waitress seated us and then left, my nervousness reached an all time high. Every time I had to look Malakai in the eye I felt so vulnerable for some reason. I was always looking for an excuse to have to look away for a moment. 

This man Kai had become was a total stranger to me now. I had no idea who he was but he really got my heart racing. The teenage boy that I used to know was so lanky, goofy and childish. This man was mysterious, confident, burly and sturdy. The way he walked, the way he smirked. Even his devilish grin and his rough chuckle.... 

I thanked God a thousand times for the menus we had to look at. I needed a break from his smoldering stare. 

"So Luna, what's your favorite thing to eat here?" Now that was easy to answer. 

"The ultimate veggie- veggie pizza. They'll put whatever vegetables you want on it." Saying that made Malakai excited I could tell. 

"Ok. Now I need me some of that! Two ultimate veggies it is!" After he beckoned the waitress and gave her our order he looked back at me and in that exact moment our eyes met again. The feeling it suddenly gave me made me have to quickly look away.

"Do you still write?" And just as quickly I looked back up at him. 

"You remembered!?" He grinned widely once again. "I mean yes..." 

"Of course I remembered silly. Have you written any lyrics lately?" 

I nodded. “I write some every night....." 

He leaned in and put his chin in his hand. "How would you feel about helping Phoenix out with our new album?" 

Hearing Malakai ask me that made me feel all giddy and warm inside. "Really, me!?" 

He nodded back. "Of course you, why not you? You've always been an amazing lyricist. I think it's only befitting and about time that your skills are put to good use." 

Me. Me writing lyrics for a famous band!? Oh my goodness it would be amazing to hear my lyrics being sung. Being turned into an actual song and recorded. 

This was absolutely crazy. Malakai had come back into my life and in a big and unexpected way. This could be an amazing opportunity for me. Working side by side with Malakai and Phoenix. Id see the production of music first hand from beginning to end. That's what I wanted to eventually do with my life one day. Produce music. 

"Of course. I would love to. So much. I'd be honored." His eyes lit up. 

"FANTASTIC! You are so awesome Luna!" 

From the rest of the time, until our pizza came and until he dropped me off at home, he filled me in on Phoenix and where they wanted to go with the new album. From the sound of it, it was going to be a lot of hard work, but I was so ready for something like this. And so EXTREMELY EXCITED if I may add. I also did not mind at all whatsoever getting to spend lots more time with Malakai...

*¥*

We had only been out for about three and a half hours. But we talked the whole time. Mostly about Phoenix and the band. Hopefully there would be time later to catch up personally.

After I got my pajamas on, turned out my light and layed in bed, I looked at the ceiling for quite some time. This was going to be an interesting journey. This is why I didn't ALLOW myself to form crushes on any guy. They would always be on my mind...

But this.. This it seemed, I had no control over. My thoughts were spinning. 

The guy Kai turned into didn't go for girls like me... Wait what was I like. I wasn't exactly innocent. I was loud mouthed and stubborn. I had an anger problem. I was extremely self conscious... And awkward. But mostly... I was a virgin. OMG SHOCKER, I KNOW!  

I almost had trouble wrapping my mind around it myself. I just never found anyone worth the time. I had never connected with anyone on such a deep level where I felt the need to get naked for them... And the self conscious thing held me back too. No one ever made me feel comfortable enough. 

GAHHHH I was a mess. I hadn't thought like this in years. Yeah I found guys cute. I found them funny and attractive and I liked talking to them but that was it. I didn't even really hang out with anyone, let alone guys. I was always working and going to school I just had no time really... 

Ooohhh time... This whole undertaking of writing lyrics and helping Phoenix was going to be interesting with the way my life was at the moment. 

And trying to get to know Malakai was going to be even interesting- er hahahahaha