I now have my very own website:

http://www.taraashleephotography.com/

And I would love for you to check it out!!
I have plenty of pictures on already, and even way more to come!!

My concert photography on my site so far features bands like..

Fall Out Boy,
The Academy Is...,
Hey Monday,
Makeshift Prodigy,
[CHECK THEM OUT AND ADD THEM: makeshiftprodigy.buzznet.com ]
Owl City,
Mayday Parade,
The Secret Handshake,
&
You Me At Six

Please check it all out and leave me some
feedback in a comment here!
I'd love to know what you think!! :)

Thanks,

<3 Tara Ashlee

I promise my concert experiences
to be best expressed in the photos I take.
It's like memories to go..
or an 'I wish you were here' postcard
..without having to buy the stamp!

=)

[July 24th, Chicago, IL]

          Walking into a venue, with more (shorter than me) people than I had ever seen at any concert, I knew I was in for something unlike any show I had witnessed at the Allstate Arena before. Sitting down in my seat, taking a look around I began to wonder why I still watched the Disney Channel, as it was I was surrounded by thousands of pre-tweens who no doubt had a higher pitched scream than I could ever muster at even a Fall Out boy show. They proved it quickly as well.

          First up for the evening's performance line up was Jordan Pruitt. She had a very nice, short yet crowd friendly set, giving shout outs to not only the Jonas Brothers fans but also Disney Channel viewers in attendance. Her set included a small handful of songs off her album No Ordinary Girl and ended with my personal favorite of hers, the Disney Channel hit from the movie Read It and Weep "Outside Looking In".

          Next up was the amazing David Archuleta; who even made my heart race a little as I let out a shriek of a scream to his American Idol dimple stole smile. His performance was especially great as I enjoyed and sang along to his song "You Can" while the 9 year old look alikes beside me with homemade 'I love Demi' shirts screamed "We Love You David!!" into the open venue's glow stick filled air. They had high hopes that at silent points during the set he could hear them, as they tried screaming the phrase louder and louder through parts of every other song. David's smile was broadcasted over the big screen every time fans did, so I wouldn't doubt that even if he didn't hear them, that he didn't already know.

          David Archuleta's performance was outstanding throughtout the time he graced the stage. He appealed to not only the younger ones but all aged fans in the crowd, as I even noticed mothers of little ones in Demi shirts singing along. David's set list included a variety of his greatest songs not only off his self titled album but also off his Fan pack EP along with a conver song "Apologize" by One Republic done on piano.

          The second to last song David performed was "Zero Gravity" the most energetic song thus far of the night, having the crowd more interactive with jumping and screaming than any of the previous songs before. Ending with one of his first singles, "Crush" was easily a favorite, while it seemed myself and all of the crowd knew the words.

          Last up for the evening was the much awaited Demi Lovato; and let me tell you, that Barney show beginning actress turned Disney Channel star easily stole the show! So into her music she didn't stroll but skipped and jumped across the stage constantly in contact with her fans on all sides of the venue. Beginning with a song off her album as she popped up with fog around her from beneath the stage, all eyes were on her while not a person in sight was seated. Following her first song with her entrance was a display done by the big screen, flashing clips from the Disney Channel show Sonny With A Chance, Demi performed the theme song to a crowd that mimicked every word back to her, myself included!

          After the song, Demi asked the crowd who watched the show and even I let out a scream, having to then comment to my eyebrow raised cousin beside me "What can I say...it's a great show!". Demi then followed the beginning set of songs with a great light show as she continued on to perform songs off her new album Here We Go Again, including "U Got Nothin' On Me", "Remember December" and "Two Worlds Collide". She also performed off her first album Don't Forget with the song "Don't Forget".

          But next up was no doubt the very best, asking the crowd who had heard of/seen the Disney Channel original movie Camp Rock, an uproar of crazily raised hands waving about, wanting the chance to sing with Demi flew up when she asked for some help to sing "This Is Me". Walking down one of the two catwalks from the stage, Demi picked a little girl with two braids, a pink skirt and white Demi shirt. The shocked little girl gave Demi her name. Ella couldn't have been more than 6 years old and looked extremely shy as she stared down at the microphone she was handed. But Demi made her feel right at home as the girl got used to the stage and strolled back and forth holding Demi's hand as they sang together. At the end of the song Demi gave little Ella a hug and she went back to her mom. Demi then went into more new songs, two of which she played acoustic guitar with.

          Towards the end, Demi spoke about her R&B inspirational artists she listened to while growing up before going into playing piano for and singing a cover of "Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin. Demi made the comment that she didn't think she could do it justice, but with all respect to the original artist I think she absolutely did!

          Later on there was an ending encore, when Demi ran off stage and quickly came back in a pink dress after chants of "Demi! Demi! Demi!" filled the venue. The entire show was fantastic and I would recommend to anyone seeing Demi Lovato's Summer Tour!!

SO! Here Is The Scoop!! THE FRANTIC!!!
A Chicago Band including the four amazing members known as:
Kyle Dee, Brett Hartwell, Chris Farnesi & Ian Farnesi!!

IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD OF THEM, YOU NEED TO!!
AND IF THAT IS THE CASE, YOU NEED TO.. RIGHT NOW!!!!

So, get your booty over to www.thefrantic.com and give them a listen,
Check them out!!
or look them up on myspace: www.myspace.com/thefrantic


Don't care whichever you do, just GET IN THE KNOW with these boys,
because you CAN'T afford to miss out!!!

They are currently on their Maul Tour, almost half way through, and if they come near you, you should definately go for a listen!!
The shows on this tour are all held in Hot Topics of the malls listed on the above photo flyer!!
The shows are free and acoustic, and seriously, you just WONT BE SORRY!!!

I saw these boys play and met them last Thursday
(in South Bend, Indiana on April 16th)
And they were GREAT!!!
I took pictures which you can view here:
http://www.buzznet.com/cp/galleries/photos/taraashlee-thefrantic41609/

and I also recorded 3 different videos of their playing
which you can view here: www.youtube.com/taraashlee

 Oh yea.. and..

ADD THEM ON BUZZNET!!

www.thefrantic.buzznet.com 

THEN WE HAVE...

ABSENSTAR!!
Another amazing Chicago band deserving some powerful recognition!!
With a new album out, and itunes availability, they are not to be overlooked!!

Their website is.. www.absentstar.com
while also they have a frequently being updated twitter

and for myspace fans,

Check them out and or add them at:
www.myspace.com/absentstar 

and also on their Buzznet, show them some love at:
www.absentstar.buzznet.com

Last but not least a new band to my ears and hopefully new or already loved to yours:

Yet, another Chicago band, maybe I just have some major state pride and love, but these guys are great!
With a witty band name like Flowers for Dorian, morphed from the book titles of "Flowers for Algernon" and "The Picture of Dorian Gray" they're definately worth the listen!!

Their website is..www.flowersfordorian.com

You can also check them out on their myspace at:

www.myspace.com/flowersfordorian

and also be sure to add them on buzznet at:
www.flowersfordorian.buzznet.com 

So check all these guys out & give them a listen,
then report back and let me know what you think!!

<3 Tara Ashlee

Let The Right One In  --  Mission Complete!!

After reading all the bravely told stories and shared personal experiences about bullying, teasing, and just wise words of advice and thoughts in general on high school and the whole shebang, it was decided..

Although there were a handful of journal entries for this mission that could have easily taken the cake, the winner with the most buzz on their journal was xsuckmykissxx!!!

Congratulations!!! You have won a copy of the "Let The Right One In" movie and some other goodies picked special for you by the incredible El Rich!!

To see xsuckmykissxx's awesome journal entry, look no further, and hesitate no longer,
just CLICK HERE!!!!!

Thank you to everyone who participated, and keep promoting Buzzmob!!!

More great missions to come!!!

~Tara Ashlee

Clandestine Industries Relaunch

As talked about amongst Clandestine fan to Clandestine fan,
The much awaited relaunch is finally almost upon us.

Earlier this afternoon upon checking petewentz.com
Pete had posted an entry about the relaunch on February 1st,

Saying that:
For the first 50 hoodie orders, there would be a one of one photo in the pocket,
Then, with all other orders after that there would be also other nifty little gifts thrown in, to make up for the wait.

Checking back to petewentz.com again,
Pete has removed what he said before, and the same entry only reads:
on february 1. clandestineindustries.com

Other information had been released, or thrown into the stream a day or so ago about an idea in which the relaunch would be up on February 1st,
but the making of any orders wont be possible till February 5th.

Many thoughts, and up and down ideas have been spread, and rumored around.

Nothing yet is really confirmed, except the madness is all going to begin again:
February 1st!

CONFIRMED CLANDESTINE RELAUNCH DATE:

February 5th!!

See:
clandestineindustries.com
for the details!

        The show was to begin at 7pm, and doors were to open at 6pm. Well since it was a Friday and I had school still that day, my parents insisted that I use the make a resturant reservation idea to 'pass the line' as it said on ticketmaster. I made a reservation for 5pm and my plan was locked into place as I received a confirmation a few days before the show. Printing the confirmation out yesterday afternoon during school, I couldn't control myself. I was driving everyone crazy, and couldn't wait to get there, and grab that glorious barricade bar.

      After school I got home and we didn't leave until about 3:30pm, on our way up to Chicago, I got myself even more pumped and excited, sqeaking the back of my home-made tour shirt on the leather seats in ourZ71, while singing what my parents considered 'overly loud' to The Academy Is! As I noticed the time getting closer and closer..to 5pm, I began to grow concerned.."are we almost there?" I kept asking like an uneasy kid on a road trip.. Dad kept telling me that if traffic stayed how it was..then it wouldn't be much longer.. but when we were about 20 minutes from the venue, the traffic came to a stop! I panicked and whined about worrying I would miss the reservation and end up at the back of the line that didnt get in till 6pm, then how would I make it to barricade!! As our reservation time passed, I worried and worried more and more. The paper said that they would hold the reservation for 15 minutes, so I still had hope..but it was dwindling. After 5:20pm came upon us and we were still a good 15 to 20 minutes away..plus traffic time, my mom decided to give house of blues a call and let them know we'd be late..they said that was fine, and I stopped worrying.

       As we got there..'being late' was realllyyy late. It was 5:48pm when we got there... and luckily my mom was able to talk the guy into letting me into the pass the line reservations line... even though we had to kinda lie and say that we had some 'dinner package' haha Ohwell, so they scanned our tickets and let us all go up the stairs where we saw Sisky run across, eveyone cheering. My blood was pumping through me as I could hear Hey Monday doing a sound check up above the stairs from where I couldnt see, but as they released us and said a zillion times not to run, we all took off like a herd of buffalo anyway. As soon as I got up there, 6 people from the stage was NOT going to work for me. So I immediately ducked my head a bit and pushed through until I was 3 people from the barricade bar. Very squished already, and the show hadn't even started, I was in for an amazing night.

       A few people noticed The Butcher up above in the balcony area for a little bit, but he soon after he vanished. When Hey Monday came on they played a great set! Cassadee was gorgeous {I love her hair!}, and that Jersey boy..was kinda cute ^-^!! Anyway they sang.. Homecoming, Josie, Hurricane Streets, Obvious, another one I can't seem to remember, and they finished up by Cassadee playing 6 Months Acoustic, which was PERFECT!!! First off, I already loved that song, but hearing my voice collide with hers in my car, versus hearing it *intertwine with hers from the crowd to the stage was incredible!! During their set, I believe during Josie sometime, I looked up to the balcony again and saw The Butcher. He must've been looking down at exactly that moment too, because I smiled and put my hand up a bit to wave, and he waved back!! That was exciting! Then during Obvious sometime.. I was gettin' really into it and Cassadee came close and I pointed at her and she pointed back! haha I'm so lame. But it was kewl!

       After Hey Monday was a band called Carolina Liar, they weren't bad. I had no clue who they were...or any of their songs, but they were pretty good.

      Then it was time..We The Kings time!!! It was their turn to wow the crowd! The girl in front of me got a set list at the end of their set, so instead of stressing, tryin to remember what songs they played, I asked her if I could take a picture and she had no problem with it. Anywayz during towards the end of their set; This is our town, and Secret Valentine were started off on a keyboard by Travis, and Feel Good yea, the Gorrilaz verision, haha Hunter rapped to, which was was pretty awesome, and not to mention kinda funny!! Travis came out in the crowd a few times and I held his hand once, which was also pretty kewl!! hehe I'm a red head fan!! =) I got the I Love Red Heads We The Kings shirt also!!

[[We The Kings set list]]

       After We The Kings was what we ALLLL had been waiting for!!! A.k.a. the highlight of the night! Wednesday evening I decided to write a long note, it was slightly humorous and slightly not, and slightly just cute, anyway I wrote this long note to all of The Academy Is.. in hopes that if Beckett came off the stage at all, maybe, possibly I'd be able to slip it into his pocket.. Before I left the house for the show that day..I slipped on two bracelets I had made a few months ago. One I had hoped to possibly give to Cassadee, and the other to Beckett if given the opportunity. Well as The Academy Is.. came on, during We The Kings I had worked my way up so that I only had one person in front of me before the barricade bar, so I was pretty proud of that, and even thought the girl behind me continued to try and dig her elbow into my back, trying to possibly get me to let her in.. it wasn't going to happen. As sore as I am today, I still don't regret even a tiny bit..not budging!

      So, The Academy Is.. finally came on, and their set was great!! They played Summer Hair = Forever Young, Almost Here, Classifieds, About A Girl, We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands, Neighbors, Automatic Eyes, Attention, Coppertone, Everything We Had, Beware! Cougar!, and a brand new song not yet released called: Winter Passing (which I was lucky enough to catch on camera/recorded it!!) [[songs listed are most definately not in order]]

      Back to the story a bit about the note and the bracelt..so every chance I got that Beckett came close everyone pushed and all hands flew forward to grab at him, just in case he reached out.

[[me holding out the bracelet..if you can find a way to zoom, youll notice he's looking right at me!!]]

So every chance I got, I held out the bracelet. I had slightly forgotten that I had the note too, but when I remembered and realized it might be too hard for him to just grab the bracelet, I got an idea.. this was right before Everything We Had came on.. So I opened up the note a tad and squished the bracelet inside, now holding them both together everytime he came close. It was right about during the middle of Everything We Had when he came real close and leaned out as I leaned forward, smiling at me, as I smiled at him, he grabbed my whole hand, taking the note out of it, and sliding it into his pocket! Allll the hands around me pushed to try to grab at him, but the only hand he touched at that time was mine!! I was soo excited, the girl next to me even got excited for me, and we both screamed really loud!!

[[if you look really closely, again it helps if you can zoom. But you can see a tiny buldge in his right pocket!!]]

       So After he took my note, I couldn't have been happier!!! The night was incredibly amazing, and at the very end he came out into the crowd again, first as everyone had their hands all over his body, i grabbed for his hand and held his hand till it was pushed off, then I grabbed at his bracelet... as I tried to pull it off or break it off for a souvenier of some sort. (haha) When I realized that was going no where.. I placed my hands all over his chest, as I ran them down the front of his sweaty shirt, as other people grabbed his hands, I stuck my hands around the neck of his shirt, pulling it down, as I put my hands on his (bare skinned chest) haha  I was ecstatic!! haha

[[my hand intertwined in his bracelet, someone else's hand is on top of becketts]]

At the end of the show I was able to get one of the 3 blue The Academy Is... picks that Beckett played with to do the acoustic version of their new song Winter Passing!!

[[the pick beckett used last night to play Winter Passing]]

         By the way...that song, is gorgeous! I loved it instantly, and i'm sure everyone else will too, when they get the chance to hear it for the first time!! =)

Well after the show last night I had gotten plenty of pictures and such, and as I said before I got the I Love Red Heads We The Kings shirt, and also I got the gray The Academy Is... hoodie!! It was a great show, and I had pretty much the time of my life! What a great last show of the year to wrap up with!!

Thanks mom and dad for putting up with me, once again. And taking me to my 5th show of 2008.
(even though my limit was 2 this year!!) You guys are amazing, and I love you!

<3Tara Ashlee

The Best Of Us Can Find Happiness In Misery

Chapter 5

After the shock of emptying our truth and lie piggy banks into each other’s hands, we laid on my bed, staring at the walls. Pete’s head on my pillow, I laid against him, with my head on his chest, arm across his stomach, and his arms both locked around me. “You know…” he began. “Yea?” I asked. “Your walls are pretty creepy…” he joked. “Oh shush, don’t call yourself creepy…” I laughed. Just then, as I playfully pushed him and he turned to try and tickle me, we heard the phone begin to ring. I knew my parents didn’t know I was there, so it didn’t phase me to think of answering as I continued to play fight with Pete. “Hey…aren’t you going to get that?” he questioned, ending a laugh. “Well…eh..yea I suppose I could..” I sighed, jumping up, running to the phone, holding my side from a pain shooting through it when I rolled off the bed, angled.

“Hello!?” I answered hastily as I picked up the phone, on barely the last ring. “Oh, Thank God! Where have you been? We looked everywhere for you last night!” Sammi shouted into the phone, her words landing just right, echoing harshly into my ears as I held the phone away slightly. “Sam, breathe!” I laughed. I heard a small vicious growl come from her end of the phone. “Did you get a puppy?” I joked with a sarcastic laugh. “Tara!” she yelled. “Aw Sammi, I’m fine. Pete took me to the hospital to get checked out then we slept in the car together.” I explained. “You Slept With Him!?” I heard Caity yell instantly in the background, sounding entirely excited to get the gossip. “Shush!” Sam shouted at Caity, knowing what I had meant. I laughed. “What’d they say at the hospital?” Sam continued on to question, sounding concerned. “Tell Caity we had hot, steamy, romanticism raged sex in the back seat.” I joked. “Tara!” Sam yelled again, to get my attention.

“Sam, I’m fine, I have a bruised rib and some minor ouchies, but they gave me some happy medicine, so it’s really no biggie, and I’m ok, ok?” I said calmly, hoping she’d calm down too. “Ok, good.” she sighed in relief. “But anyway, how was your night with zee Pattycakes, a.k.a. man of your dreams… Huh? Huh??” I laughed. “Well actually…” she began with a giggle that just screamed, ‘I’m blushing bright scarlet pink right now, you just can’t see me through the phone’. “Ok…well I’ll tell you…” she began again, bursting with excitement in her tone. “Well spill already! Spill! Spill!” I shouted excitedly. “Ok, well…here’s what happened…After you and Pete left, the show was pretty much over, so Caity and I decided to wait around for a little bit and hang out with Patrick and Joe!” Sam gushed. “Where was Andy?” I interrupted to ask.

It was then, that I let out a squeal into the receiver with a jump, when Pete’s arms wrapped around me. “Tara!” she yelled for the third time. I was so out of it, so estranged in my unreal surroundings that my name was so distant, from what I felt like answering to. “Pete! What are you doing?” I laughed, turning in his arms to face him, reaching mine up over his shoulders, and resting them behind his neck. He leaned in closely, placing a small kiss on the tip of my nose. “Admiring. Just admiring.” he said with a smile. “Ok, well I’, tryin’ to find out the latest gossip on the street, since last night.” I joked, showing him the phone in my hand, which I had been dangling over his shoulder, behind his neck, with my other hand.

“Helllooo!?! Tara!!!” Sam shouted more into the phone, realizing I was still there, just in a completely sidetracked, ‘miles away’ sort of conversation. “Oh, well you better get back to that then. After all if the Enquirer has gotten a whiff of this, and has already planted to reader’s that we’ve wedded and bedded, you must let me know.” he smirked. “Ok, yea, I’ll definitely let you know if that one comes up!!” I said with a smiling response as he slipped away to go watch mtv on the living room flat screen. “So….Andy, where was he?” I questioned again curiously as if I had been there the whole time, and she had been the one not paying attention to me. Sam laughed at my attendance issue to the phone call, before casually answering. “Uh, I think he had left with his girlfriend Belle, or something…But anyway so we walked around with Patrick and Joe for awhile, as we repeatedly called your cell phone…which you didn’t answer…” she explained. “Oh My God! My cell phone!” I shrieked, worriedly.

“Don’t worry, we got it, we got it.” she cooed. “Ok, good!” I sighed in relief, my heart slowing back to normal pace. “Now! I’ll tell you how if you stop interrupting my story!” she complained jokingly. “Ok, ok…I’m sorry.” I said, walking into my room and throwing myself onto my bed, covering myself up to get comfy for Sammi’s story time. “Alright, so after we realized you weren’t answering your cell, we decided to go out looking for you and Pete. Patrick offered to drive us and we accepted. I sat in the front with him, and Caity sat in back with Joe. When we pulled in the hospital parking lot we couldn’t see Pete’s car, but we decided to go in and check for you anyway. Patrick asked the receptionist if you had checked in, and when they said you hadn’t we drove around a little more, just in case you were around the area. It was around then that Joe insisted he go get movies and we all go back to the venue to watch them together, so that’s what we decided on.” she told, taking a pause for a breather. “Ohhh, darkness with Mr. Stump, I see where this going.” I joked, laughing at my input prediction to her story. “Sorry I was getting a drink.” she explained for her absence. “Ohh, so you don’t deny it!” I laughed, noticing she hadn’t even heard what I said.

“Oh shush! My story!” she demanded, letting out a small laugh that blended hand-in-hand into mine. “Ok, so Patrick drove us back to the venue as Joe ran across the street to rent two Star Wars movies from Blockbuster. Well, when we got inside Shaant from Cute Is What We Aim For was there! Caity totally spazzed, and ran up to him, hugging him like they’d known each other for years. It was crazy, they were like love at first site. But, it was lucky he had been there to see the show, because after the place cleared out he found your phone in the pit!” she informed, getting as much out as possible, before I had another chance to interrupt. “Yay! So is it ok?” I asked. “Yea, yea, it’s fine, unlike you…nobody stepped on it!” she teased. I laughed. “Ok, so here’s where it got good…as Caity went off on her own rendezvous with Shaant, and Joe still had yet to get back with the movies, I got some quality, personal, alone time with Patrick! And…oh my god, Tara! We had an amazing debate over Voldemort vs. Umbridge . I mean seriously, he knows his HP stuff!” she blurted excitedly. “Aw Sammi, I’m so happy for you!” I said with a shared genuine happiness. “I know…he’s incredible..” she sighed. “Yea, he’s perfect for you.” I insisted, forcing the sound of my smile through the tone in my words. “Yea…and that’s not even all of it from what happened, it was just like…we clicked. He laughed at my clumsiness when I tripped as we were going to lay on this couch, and then he insisted we lay on the floor, so he got these blankets from storage, and he put one on the floor for us to lay on, and wrapped the other around both of us, with his arm around me.” she gushed more. “Awww, that’s so sweet.” I commented.

“Awww, are you not done yet??” Pete asked, poking his head in my room, mimicking my ‘Aw’s. I sat up swiftly, scooting over to pat beside me on the bed. “We’re almost done.” I told him with a smile. “That Pete?” Sammi asked. “Yea.” I said, staring at him, as he jumped onto the bed and sat beside me, looking around my room again. “He sounds perfect for you…” she began. “What do you mean?” I questioned, still looking him over with a smile spread across my face, as smooth as butter. “You’re both in love with perfection.” she said. “Sammi, I’m not perfect, and neither is he.” I told her. “Yea, but you both see it in each other that you are, and that fools the eyes into what they want they want to believe and see, and makes them fall in love easily.” she explained, sounding deeper than I had ever known her for. “yea, he is pretty incredible…” I began, as his attention shot to me with a grin. “I mean…I could still see that, even if I was blind.” I went on, still staring at him with a smile, as if I was talking to him alone. “Ok, so from the sound of where this conversation is going, I think I’ll let you go…I don’t want to listen to you obsess over him as he sits beside you. Trust me, I’m sure he hasn’t heard it as many times as I have, my limit is up. Now you can tell him yourself how cute you think he is, and how inspirational his writing is to yours.” she told me. “..my writing…” I commented randomly, as if asking her what she meant. “yea…wait…you haven’t showed him?” she asked. “nahh, not yet. But I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Call us…I mean me…haha Call me.” I said, correcting my last statement. Who knew how long he’d stay. “Ok, later gater, byee.” she squealed, before hanging up. I clicked the off on the phone, and leaned over to pull back my curtains as I heard the tapping on the window.

“Rain..” he observed. “Yes, thank you Mr. Obvious!” I laughed, poking fun at him, as he rolled his eyes with a grin, and I gave his arm a small push. “Let’s go watch a movie.” he suggested, motioning to get up and go look through my DVD holder in the corner of my room, below my bass. “This one!” he exclaimed, holding up The Nightmare Before Christmas in his hand. “Ok” I grinned, jumping out of bed, snatching it from his hand and running to the living room to pop it in the DVD player. Pete, hurriedly caught up and jumped onto the couch, grabbing the remote and hitting play. His arm leaning across the top of the back of the couch, I saw that as my opening to nuzzle under his arm, and lean against his chest. “Heyy..” he said, with a smile as he looked down to me, and then wrapped his hand around my shoulder. “Good?” he asked, referring to his hand around me. “Perfect.” I blushed.

<3Tara Ashlee

The Best Of Us Can Find Happiness In Misery

Chapter 3

Forced into a wheelchair, I tried to fight my way out, but Pete’s hands continued to press my shoulders back down, which only hurt my side more, making me quickly give up. “Pete, you could just take me home, this isn’t necessary…how am I going to pay for this?” I asked anxiously squirming, wondering if I jumped up while he was pushing me, if I would just do a klutz move and fall down or if I could sprint with a bad side all the way back to the car. I decided against even trying as Pete sped up the pace, noticing my deep in thought expression. As we stopped in the waiting room, I folded my arms stubbornly, as he wheeled me beside a chair that he sat down in. “to answer your questions…no, I couldn’t just take you home, because yes this is necessary, and you’re not going to pay for it, because I am.” he snapped softly. My jaw slightly dropped from his boldness pressed to my ears. The nurse then came over and asked for my name as I sat, still staring at Pete. That’s when it hit me. He didn’t know my name. Had he heard my friends call me it; and what would he think, when he realized it was one of the most common usernames to submit questions he always skipped over on the Q & A over at FOBR, and that, that was no coincidence.

“Sweetie, your name?” the nurse asked again, angling her face down to catch my view. “Oh…my name is Tara..” I answered casually, hoping she wouldn’t continue with her ‘wannabe’ twenty questions rant. But she did. “I’m sorry, I’m going to need a last name too.” she insisted, nudging again to get me to look back up at her, from my mesmerized eyes staring at the waiting room’s dirty tile floors. “Uh, it’s…” I tried to force myself to lie, and fake a last name, because I knew it would only take seconds before my first and last name would click into place in Pete’s mind. So without lying I told a version of the truth. “Tara…..Ashlee” I stuttered into place in the form of my answer as I finally looked up to her. “Hmm…and your birth date?” she asked, after writing down the name I had given. Pete watched and listened intently as he took in the information I was so unwillingly giving out. “March 1^st, uhh…1989.” I sighed, looked over to Pete, whose face loosened up as he heard the last four digits, realizing I was young, but not underage. Or so, he thought. I knew it was wrong to lie to a hospital, but I couldn’t possibly give any real information around him. I couldn’t stand the thought of him getting up and walking out, afraid a magazine would get a hold of this story and reveal him as a pedophile. WHICH WOULD BE INACCURATE, seeing as I was now full on the idea that the accident was my fault. The last thing I wanted was him to get in trouble, and if anything I was rearing and ready to push myself under the bus for him. Hours later after being examined, x-rayed, poked, and prodded in my aching side, I was told that I had a bruised rib. Dr. Patrick was correct. I was to get lots of rest, and stay clear of leaning on that side, and to top it off to my much enjoyment I was prescribed some pretty colored feel good meds. Pete wasn’t too hip on the idea of looking at the check, so as I witnessed for the first time in my life, I watched as he covered up the amount due on the bill, and just carried on to sign it and hand over his credit card to pay.

Walking out to the car with Pete at 3 a.m. was quite a big deal for me. “So can I tell my friends, I spent the night with Pete Wentz?” I joked, giddily as I picked at the side Velcro of the cast support around my waist. Pete gave me a ‘what do you think’ sort of look, and I giggled childishly as I climbed in the passenger’s side. “Thank god, it was only a bruised rib….I would’ve felt tremendously worse if it had been any more serious..” he confessed as he started the vehicle. “Aw Pete, you care about me.” I gloated, reaching my hand out to his hand on the steering wheel as I did before. He didn’t swerve the car or jump in his seat though this time, which was surprisingly comforting in the strangest way. “Damn you’re out of it…you were silent on the way here, can we go back to that miss druggie?” he joked, pulling us out of the parking lot. “Should I sing the loopy song?” I laughed. “Please don’t.” he responded quickly, beginning to sound annoyed. “oh. Well…you’re no fun.” I pouted, folding my arms across my chest.

About 3 miles or so later after complete hushed silence in the car, Pete pulled over to a gas station and turned to me. My eyes lit up, confused. “What?” I asked. “You didn’t tell me where to take you…were you ever planning on telling me where you live??” he questioned, frustrated with himself for not thinking of this sooner. My confused face turned into a puzzled one, and then quickly turned into a laughing fit, filling my eyes with bits of water, and turning my face a light shade of pink. Taking deep breaths, finishing my last bit of a laugh, Pete grabbed my cheek with his hand and turned my face to his. Too close to his lips to be able to focus, all I could do was take in the taste through the smell of his breath. “Cinnamon.” I commented, with a grin, closing my eyes to take a whiff again as he sighed. “Tara, are you listening to me?” he asked, I hadn’t even realized he had been talking as I took in the gorgeousness of his face, tracing every line with my imaginary finger in my head, which sounded much more psychotic than it was. “Wait, what’d you say?” I questioned for a repeat. “Where…should….I…take….you….now?” he asked loud and slowly as if I was in no mental state to understand sentences.

I thought for a moment, staring out my window up to the stars and the moon, which was brilliantly bright at that point in the sky. “Well…seeing as though I’m not supposed to be home till Monday, and today is well…is now…Saturday…maybe, I could…go wherever you’re going?” I asked, wishfully. “After parties are not what you need right now! You could’ve been killed in that pit tonight, then what would I have done?” he snapped. “wrote a good song bout me..” I whispered. “That’s not even funny.” he snapped again. I sighed, and looked down. “…please don’t take me home early…I just…I just want to stay with you tonight…” I admitted, shyly looking up to catch his eyes in mine. A moment or two passed as our eyes stared with an inner connection wanting to lock us together and glue our hips for the time being. He broke the connection with words. “Ok, get in the back.” he demanded. My eyes widened. “What for?” I asked curiously, hoping Wentz wasn’t about to rape me or anything. Any other time I wouldn’t have minded, but being drugged up as I was, I feared not remembering it in the morning. “Just do it…we’re sleeping here tonight..” he insisted. “Oh.” I said, climbing over the center piece and laying down across the backseat.

“Comfy?” he asked. “Not as much, as if you were back here with me…” I sassed quietly. “What’d you say?” he questioned. “Yea, I’m fine.” I snapped. He sighed knowing the reason for my hostility, but replaying over and over in his mind, my age. If only he knew the real date, he wouldn’t have even let me stay in the same car with him overnight.

<3Tara Ashlee