Chapter 40: Milkshakes
POV: Gabby
September 26, 2008
I had finished the two canvases that were due and they already had a protective coat over them and wrapped in brown paper to keep them clean and dust free. It was a relief because I was worried I wasn’t going to get them done with the crazy schedule.
Bailey, Quinn, and little Ella were coming to Orlando. The reservations were done and their tickets were bought. They were also attending the members event as I had pulled major ass strings for that one including appealing to all three of them. It took a threat to call Stella and Nicole before they pushed it through.
Damien had not backed off and I had seen him one other time since the last time I walked, I wasn’t attending them because I didn’t know his reasons and if it was to hurt me then being alone was bad. So, I’d not attended the last few but I’d also spent that time painting and perfecting her pieces. But, I was finding that I was hurting some from not really moving, the runs with Carrick or Austin weren’t enough to completely make up for the hours of sitting.
Like now, I was restless and everything was set up and ready to go, I was just sitting at the drums a little bored, playing a bit actually.
“You must be bored.” Sierra said.
I glanced over at her, smiled at her choice of clothes. “You reppin Hanson now? Wow.”
“I borrowed one for a picture for Heather.”
“I am bored.”
“Want me to teach you something new?”
I was slammed with the idea of what happened the last time she asked me that, boy was it new. That was just the second time without Newton around with a lens and she’d introduced some different techniques. She had that same look right now.
“Depends on what you are teaching me.”
She jogged over and hopped up and just sat herself down in my lap.
“Give me a beat, whatever comes to mind.”
“I would if I could move my legs.”
“Har Har, fine.”
She stood up, which put her ass right in my face. I found some random beat, that sounded like something they’d been working on the other night. She moved my other leg in some pattern and once I got it, she stepped over one leg, straddling mine with hers. Still, this position was rather well, I was totally missing sex, so it was a little hot.
The thoughts in my head weren’t of drum beats, but the way her ass felt under my hands. Which is why the cymbal scared me when she hit it. She took their normal sound and just added to it with what few drums he had set up. When she was done she got behind me to teach them to me, putting her very close to me. Her scent and smells were clouding my ability to follow directions.
“If I didn’t know better I’d say you’re doing this shit on purpose.”
“Now, why would I do that?”
I turned slightly and she was right there. “Because you use too, but we can’t happen kitten. I see that familiar look in your eyes and fuck do I want to drag you off to some private little area. I’m not going to do that because of that ring on your finger.”
“Never said I would go.”
She snorted. “You’d go. Now, count three, three, one. You got this.”
She was still standing close and even leaned over when the boys got back.
“What’s this? You said you liked the drummer are you just using me for my drums?” Zac asked.
Sierra was so fast moving away that I wondered if she got whiplash!
“I must say you do have good quality drums.” I said.
“I see, I’m just here.”
“We were just bored.” She said.
“No problem, we just got back. Lunch is here, so let’s go. We got a walk to do!”
We got up and headed to lunch which was catering. We fixed plates and sat down at the tables. They talked about the route and when Carrick said he was going to walk as well I jumped on the bandwagon. He could stay with me and he would. After lunch we got up and got ready, getting megaphones and stuff.
Stepping out was refreshing, the sun was warm on my face and the general mood felt good. It had rained earlier but it was now a good temperature to walk. Carrick and I moved to the side, I didn’t see Damien anywhere so it was possible he’d gone home. Taylor used a table to stand on to make his beginning speech and I actually listened, it wasn’t so ingrained in my head anymore. The first half of the walk went fine, a few of the fans around us talked to Carrick and one actually told me hi!
We stayed near the back again, during the speech. But, I could see this girl near Zac, I saw him deflect her hand more than once from putting something in his pocket.
“Don’t go rushing up there now.” Carrick said.
“Long as he deflects he’ll be fine.”
“He’s deflecting and he just told her a flat no.”
It was good to know that even though we hadn’t had any alone time he was more than willing to say no. Taylor began to lead back, Zac fell somewhere in the middle and we joined Isaac on the walk back to the venue. Carrick was in a deep conversation with a fan about one of the meanings behind a song. Isaac was enthralled in a group that was talking about their time in Africa and the reason they chose to do this.
I was walking between them and I did noticed that a group of girls seemed to be huddling and walking near me. I could even see the camera when she got a few pictures. Who cared? Let them I didn’t mind if people saw me. I heard someone say watch out, assumed it was glass or something but there was suddenly a girl with blonde hair in front of me with cups in her hands and then they were being dumped over my head. One was watery and smelled like rotten milk, the other one was thick and cold.
“Fucking bitch, you’re fault he’s turning us down and fucking up our plans. You should go back to the fucking strip club you came from.”
I was very confused. There was pink liquid and chunks of strawberries clinging to my shirt, the smell of sour milk made me gag but I saw her turn and walk away, what the fuck just happened?!
I brushed back my hair to find chunks of strawberries from what remained of a milkshake. Her little posse apparently filmed it all! Logic cease to exist. She speed walked to Isaac who hadn’t slowed at all and had struck up a conversation with him.
“Gabs?” Carrick said.
I just ran toward her, there was no fucking way I was walking away. I landed both hands square on her shoulders which shoved her face first into the puddle of water and mud she was about to side step.
“Who the fuck do you think you are? Some stuck up fucking bitch that thinks a married man should be fucking everyone around him? So you what, take it out on me?”
She started to get up and I was already dirty, what the hell. I dropped right on her lower back, pushing her deeper into the mud, splashing water out.
“Get off of me you psycho!” She yelled.
I grabbed a handfull of hair and pulled her up some, leaned down. “You are messing with the wrong person and I’m fucking tired of being nice to bitches like you. Zac is married to me. He will not be fucking you or any other blonde bitch that tries, so you can all stop being butt hurt and pissed off about it and move the fuck on.”
I pushed her away and got up, brushed my clothes back down. There was a circle around us, completely stunned quiet. Cameras rolling and all.
“What the hell are you stopping for, keep walking.”
“Gabby...” Isaac said.
“Don’t even.”
He was about to move me when I felt the second squishy thing on my head, smearing what I guessed was mud in my hair and down the back.
“If you think he doesn’t fuck around with us then what about the bitch in Rochester that is having his baby? December is when the little boy is due. He ain’t no fucking saint and you are nothing but a fucking bitch ass slut that just fucks around with everyone. Pretty sure you are fucking the opening band, including the drummer.”
Isaac heard every word of that, so he cannot blame me. He cannot send me home because he heard that and he knew what happen last time. My hands balled up, my nails digging into my palms. I was sure she turned and when I turned around she had walked away like she won! I was totally about to rush her again fully intention was sending that bitch to the hospital, something was breaking on her body. But Isaac was quick to grab my waist.
“No, Gabby stop.”
“Let me go, Isaac.”
“No. Let it go.”
“Let it go? Fuck no. I’ve done that before and look what the fuck she did?”
“Gabby. Too many cameras rolling, just calm down.”
The entire crowd had stopped walking, commotion was leading forward but I was so wet and slippery from the shake and the mud that when she turned and stuck her tongue out at me, I lunged and his hands slipped right off. Muhum, she had that deer in headlights face until she was laying flat on her back, nose bleeding and she looked stunned, I was about to straddle her when stronger arms came around my waist, those arms felt familiar.
“I think once is enough.” Zac said.
Taylor was standing nearby completely stunned and he tried to talk, but no words came out, some of her friends helped her up.
“Psycho bitch.”
I wondered if Zac snapped his neck or something, seemed like his head turned awfully quick. Which shut her up really quickly, because he’d heard her.
“What the fuck happened?” Zac asked.
I guess I really didn’t look all that great, rotten strawberry shake, apparently a fresh one, mud, water, dirt, I imagine some blood too, I think I scraped a knee or something. My hand even hurt a bit, but he hadn’t let go of me.
“She pushed me. Completely unprovoked into a fucking mud puddle and then she come screaming at me and hit me.”
“I’ll fucking do it again if you get close enough, you can tell that bitch in Rochester she needs to go find her baby’s dad because it’s not Zac.”
“Gabby, what happen?”
“That bitch dumped a rotten strawberry shake and a fresh one over my head, hell yeah I shoved her into the mud puddle. Then she puts mud all over my hair and back and tells me that if I didn’t think you fucked around then I was wrong because some bitch in Rochester is having your son in December. I’m apparently a fucking bitch ass slut.”
“We’re just going to go back to the venue, I’ll cut across. Carrick can you help them?”
“No problem but that girl did dump the drinks on her first. Unprovoked, just walked up and bam. I think she was mad you rejected her card.”
He nodded and the other three began to usher people away, including the skank bitch that was I guessed getting away scot free. He waited until they had plenty of time to get ahead of us before he let me go.
“That one really is rotten, damn. Come on, we can beat them back.”
“I don’t fucking want to beat them back. I want to beat her fucking ass into the ground. She thinks this is fine! That it’s fucking okay, you going to stop me next time when they do the same thing?”
He looked at me and smiled. “She won a meet and greet, but she’s not going to be allowed back. In fact, I can’t ban her from the show but I can make sure she is the last person in the building. Beating her ass will just land you in jail.”
“You should have let me.”
“No, you should have waited until I could watch the whole thing, made me think something seriously happened. All Carrick said was back and now.”
“I guess I look like a mess.”
“Slightly, but you know that muddy look isn’t bad. The rotten milk though, nasty. Just throw everything away.”
We did a fast walk back, making it before them and Zac actually told the security team which person was to be denied and held back. Giving them a free pass to do whatever was necessary to accomplish that goal. I was impressed. Sierra looked up from the stage when I came across.
“What the fuck happened?”
“Skye made an appearance, fucking bitch.” I said.
“Tell me someone got video of that shit.”
“I’m sure YouTube will soon. I’ll just be the psychotic nut job that Zac married.”
She frowned and I’m sure Zac did too. But he got my hand and diverted me back outside, what the fuck?
“Dude, I smell like rotten milk and dirt.”
“Yeah, but we’re going to end this shit right now.”
Isaac and Taylor were confused when they got back, I was just standing there looking like a child who’d tried to make breakfast and failed miserably. Although, Isaac had milk and mud all over his clothes and so did Zac. As people gathered they briefly spoke and then Taylor hopped up on the table, where he finished the speech.
The fucking blonde bitch was right there in front of him! Zac completely ignored her though, even though she called his name. He finally moved over and when she saw me standing there she shut up fast.
“Carrick, you got me?”
“I do!” he called. He was somewhere in the crowd of people.
“We would like to address the incident that occurred today. We have witnesses and several came up to me and Isaac and Carrick on the way back. As a band we do not accept nor encourage this behavior. To those watching from H.net I am sure a quick search will show you what happen. We’ve been very tolerant and patient, but we are not oblivious. We have all seen videos from past walks where fans were name calling, making fun of, or trying to piss off members of our family.”
She rolled her eyes and mouthed my name, not that Taylor didn’t see her.
“That’s right, this girl right here covered in mud is right. Most have been about Zac’s wife, we’ve let it slide because up until today it was just verbal bullshit and as a family we were able to get past that. However, we will not tolerate physical attacks of any kind.”
He paused briefly. “Gabriella has been patient and nice to everyone she has met, she’s ignored being called a whore and a bitch, ignored when her twitter account exploded with nothing but put downs about everything. Yet, she didn’t react. Not because those words didn’t hurt her feelings, not because they didn’t impact her, but because she respected that each and every one of you are here for us, respected that you are fans of the band and are therefore not required to like her. However, it’s time that we, as a band, are there for her.”
People actually moved away from this girl, almost afraid and even I was puzzled. He asked her what her name was and she was delusional enough to give it to him. Clearly she took being blonde all the way. But, I was very confused on why.
“This is Gina, the one covered in mud here. She tried to give Zac a keycard to a hotel room during my mid-walk speech. He refused the card. Instead of accepting his refusal, she got mad and decided to dump a soured milkshake and a fresh one over Zac’s wife’s head. Gabby reacted and a scuffle occurred, none of us are going to say a damn thing to her because had it been one of us, we’d be mad too. But to show that we are serious about physical attacks, Gina won a meet and greet for today, but she will not be allowed to attend it. Her membership will be revoked to the website and a six month ban initiated on her name. What she did was horrible, childish, and wrong.”
“You can’t do that!” Gina yelled.
I was stunned that they were doing that! I mean, I expected them to demand an apology or some shit but not that!
Taylor thanked the crowd for walking, thanked them for their patience and support and got down. But, Gina kept yelling he couldn’t do that, it wasn’t fair, it wasn’t right. Yet when he finally turned to her she stopped.
“Yes, we can and we will. You wanted to video tape it and spread it around, well now you have another one, you wanted to make an example and you have.”
Whispers covered the crowd, great I’d surely be hated now. Not only did she piss Taylor off but I’d just gotten her banned and revoked and shit, yet nothing was occurring to me. We headed inside after that, making sure Carrick made it safely.
“Uh..thanks but really...they’re just going to hate me even more now.”
“I don’t care if they do, this should not happen. They might be fans but they are not teenagers, the ones that were around you were adults.” Isaac said.
“Exactly. If she had been a teenager or something we wouldn’t have been as harsh, but she dumped them on your head with the intention of you reacting so you look bad, that will not fly.”
“So, can I shower now? You’ve laid the law down and all.”
“God yes!” Carrick said.
“Don’t make me come hug you.”
He held up his hands and I went to shower. Tossing those clothes in the trash because that smell would never come out. I was about done when Abby’s ringtone came up and I hit speakerphone.
“What’s up?”
“So…my grapevine is going fucking insane saying you hit someone.”
I quickly explained as I got dressed.
“I gotta find the video for that, I should be there!”
“It isn’t as fun as it looks, just means if I had anyone that remotely liked me, I don’t have them now.”
“Who cares, you stood up for yourself and that’s what matters.”
“Yeah. I need to go make sure setup is right.”
“Talk to me for a moment first, it’s been weeks.”
“You didn’t really call after we informed you about Max. I just wasn’t sure if you needed more time to sort through that or not.”
“I broke up with him, for good. When he admitted to me that he sent the pictures I lost it. You nearly died because of that and I don’t care if he doesn’t believe you. I saw them and I know you left and I know how worried Zac was.”
“How did he take that?”
“I don’t care how, he made that bed he can now lay in it. So, how are you doing?”
“Well, besides having rotten milk and strawberries dumped on my head, feeling quite lonely, and tired I’m good.”
“Lonely? What the hell?”
“We really haven’t had much us time. They do promo stuff all morning and then their busy and by the time they’re on the bus, Zac is worn out.”
“I’m sorry. I hope you get too soon.”
I talked to her for another thirty minutes before I went to the front, they were already doing sound check and I just monitored. I took the meet and greet photo later, sure enough Gina wasn’t there. While they were on stage DJ and I cleaned up the bus a bit. He and I then came inside and he got dinner. The show went well and we were packed and on the bus before long.
We were just sitting in the back when Abby sent me a text and told me I had to check out a twitter post, I really didn’t want too but I followed her link anyway. The video was from one of the girls that were with Gina, clearly showed her walking up and dumping those shakes on my head. I scrolled past to the comments, because apparently that was what I had to read.
OMG! That is appalling! Why would you do such a thing?!
A reply to that message read: Tay posted a video and said Zac declined a room card from this Gina girl, so this is what she thought was appropriate. Disgusting behavior from someone who claims to be a fan!
Gina you deserved what she did! I’d have knocked your fucking lights out too, you should be glad Zac stopped her! He should have looked away! WTF you whining because they punish YOU? YOU attacked his wife!
OMG… you are making us all look like psychos yet you call her one? Have some common courtesy! He’s fucking married, DEAL WITH IT!!
I feel bad for Hanson, there torn between their wife and sister and fans like you. Respect them. Complete BS.
She planned that shit, I was there and she let that one shake sit –all- day until the walk. Gabby didn’t deserve that she didn’t say a damn word to her. But I was so glad she didn’t just take it. #GoGabby #TeamGabby
Message after message was the same, once that one hash tagged Team Gabby others joined. Gina tried to defend her actions but her words were shot down by more people. One tweet said he had accepted her card earlier in the year but she assumed I got it before he could leave.
I hadn’t even known but the fact he didn’t go, was a plus. Yet, the response to that was he had been married for months, people didn’t believe her. There were a few that took her side, probably the friends that were with her. But the positive comments far outnumbered those.
I found a few other videos posted by some not in her group and they weren’t calling me a psycho or a bitch, one said I had clearly been pushed too far, some said they knew it would happen eventually, others were astonished. It was a good feeling to know that the backlash wasn’t all negative this time, there were fans that didn’t hate me.