Prologue

Dalla's P.O.V

When I realized I had a crush on him. I wandered why all of a sudden. It came out of nowhere. I mean yeah he's hot. Lifting all that drum equipment was basically a workout but I'd known him for a good few years and never had I been so hooked on him. Then it happened.

"Dalla will you come with us on our tour and be our manager?" Sherry one of the singers in the band asked me once church was finished. I was shocked to say the least. In what world would a seventeen year old soon to eighteen be a manager for members way older than her. I was too young to be able to look out for the members. They ranged from late twenties to early fifties. Trish another singer then walked up to us.

"Did you ask her yet." She asked looking at me and Sherry with happiness. She seemed to be expecting me to say yes. Don't get me wrong I really wanted too.

"Why would you want me, someone younger than you all to be your manager?" I asked with genuine curiosity as to why they would even consider me.

"It fits you perfectly." Sherry says. I take a seat in a nearby seat contemplating my next course of action.

"I'll have to think about it." I say to them and they nod to me, understanding and I walked over to my mother who was talking to our pastor. I gave my greeting to her with respect and I .

"The pastor was just telling me about the band considering you as their manager. What do you think?" My mother asks. It was strange. Was she going to be coming with us I wandered.

"I was just about to ask you if it's a good idea." I say fiddling with bible in my hand.

"Of course I'd been wanting you to do more in the church and this would be a good opportunity." She says smiling at me. Did that mean I was getting permission to go? I wandered to myself.

"So who's going to go with me?" I ask looking expectantly at her. She frowns as she looks at me.

"You aren't a child anymore and you can take care of yourself. I'm sure the members will be looking after you." she says smiling once more. I knew I wasn't exactly a minor but neither was I legal for a lot of things. This was all too good to be true, any minute now I'd be waking up. Does this mean she finally trusts me? but what would my father say I wandered. Would he be okay with this?

Just as I thought he was not okay with everything. As soon as we all got into the car and were heading home leaving my brother to finish his duty at the church, my mother told my father about everything but he wasn't pleased.

"So she's just going to be going by herself?" He asked looking over to my mother who was driving. He looked appalled by the idea of me going overseas alone. We lived in the Caribbean. In Barbados to be exact and the band would be going to USA to perform in every state. I'd be away from everything and in a foreign country so I understood his reservations about the idea. I wasn't exactly responsible.

"She's almost eighteen and she's changed I trust her now." My mother says to him glancing at him and then back to the road.

"I do too but couldn't I go with her too?" My dad asks looking hopeful but frowns when my mother reminds him about all the work he'd have to do over the next few months.

"They will all take care of her, besides she soon has to do things on her own. You baby her too much." My mother says causing him to sigh in defeat.

"I guess when you get home and settled begin to get your suitcase ready you're going on tour." He says and I try to hide my joy. Then it hit me I'd be living with him for at least a year. The thought made me smile.

~~~~~~

"I can't believe you're actually going away with your crush." My best friend Jayla says when I called her for clothing advice. My suitcase was wide open.

"Don't take that it makes you look like a kid." she says as I show her my bear t-shirt. I laugh.

"But I am a child," I say fake pouting.

"Yes I know but you want to make an impression on him, so maybe he'd notice you." She says and I could hear the smile in her voice. She'd learned of my little crush the moment I'd found out myself.

"I know," I smiling uncontrollably but I pack the shirt either way. There was no way my most comfortable shirt wasn't going to tag along with me.

"Don't forget warm clothes for winter, you should buy more down there. And hey Jayla." My mother says to me and my best friend popping back out my room as fast as she'd came in. I roll my eyes searching for the hoodie, scarf and mittens my favorite aunt had given me for my birthday. I never thought I'd even be able to use them but with this tour the door to all possibilities opened. It was always my dream to see snow. By December we should in Seattle where it would be cold.

"Ouu do you remember that red dress I bought you for Christmas that for some reason you didn't wear. Put that in. With the way your weight is picking up you look like it should fit you perfectly." Jayla says and I listened. The dress was and elegant rose red dress Jayla had gotten me for Christmas that I didn't wear because of how it didn't quite fit me the way I wanted it to.

"I will miss you," I say to her the realization of how long I'd be gone dawns on me.

"Don't get all teary now, wait for when you are at the airport and walking away from me." She says with a laugh following. I knew she was just covering up her sadness. A pause filed both our ends then she spoke again.

"Look on the bright side you'd be with your darling Cameron and your parents wouldn't be around so you may get to actually talk to him." she says. Just hearing his name made me go into a smiling fit.

"Oh god calm yourself woman." She says laughing at me. An embarrassed smile graced my lips as I'd forgotten she could see my face.

"Shut up," I say throwing my crop top at the tablet.

"I hope you're bringing that," she says making me roll my eyes.

"I still have to look professional." I say and it's her turn to roll her eyes. I still ended up packing it despite my words. Professional had flown out the window the moment my bear t-shirt was placed into the suitcase.

~~~~~~

Within two days my suitcases were packed. I was carrying two in total. I'd buy another one overseas to hold all the new clothes and stuff I'd buy. I was excited. Those few weeks leading up to our departure passed painfully slowly.

I woke up to light nudges by my big brother Chris.

"Today's the day." he says when I rolled over to stare angrily at him. Realizing what he'd said I sprang up hitting my head on the top bunk. Although I had a room to myself I had a bunk bed. I guess it was because when my grandmother lived with us she would sleep in the below bed. When she left I'd moved to the bottom bed grateful for the space.

I rubbed my head and got up to stretch properly. Chris walks out with me following hot on his trail.

"There you are." My mother says. "Sherry called and said she would be here within the hour."

I nod while taking my seat in front a pile of pancakes across from my brother. I ate them in thought. This was the last day I'd see them in person. I smiled sadly. Jayla had school today so she wouldn't be able to go and see me off but we had a video call just late night. It still wasn't like saying goodbye in person and that made me feel even sadder.

I would be attending school in the states so I could still be educated. It was gong to be hard I knew. Transferring from school to school but it's the price I was willing to pay. My father was still not happy but was giving this a chance. I was going to be extra careful so he wouldn't second guess the decision even more and pull me out of the journey of a life time. I finished my pancakes and drank the smoothie my mother made then got dressed. I placed on some blue joggers and a Blue t-shirt to be comfortable, much to my mother's dismay. She'd hated it when I wore the same colour all throughout my outfit. I would have worn my grey joggers but they were so far down in my black suitcase I didn't want to go through to find it.

A car horn was heard and I placed one suitcase into Sherry's car and another in my parent's car seeing as Sherry had suitcases of her own filling the trunk and backseat of the car. I got in and Sherry drove off. My parents following closely behind. I wasn't able to go with them as they had brought my grandmother along.

The drive to the airport was Long seeing as we lived on the opposite side of the island. Anxiety crept up in me as the airport came into view. Its triangular top bringing nostalgia to the times I'd gone on family vacations but this time I was going alone without anyone of them. It was really true I was going to be going away with the band. Sherry Parked her car and everyone else got out. Sherry handed over her keys to my brother as he would be driving back her car. The others were already there when we entered but they weren't the only people there. A huge farewell sign was being held up by all my friends and members of the church. No doubt this was arranged by Jayla and the pastor. The girl bounced into my arms with tears in her eyes. I dropped my suitcase handle tears beginning to stream. Everyone else shared their farewells.

"I thought you guys were supposed to be at school." I say laughing at them and calling them delinquents. They laughed as I hugged them one by one. My god-sister Siena was drenched with tears. We all huddled in a circle saying prayers for our safety on the tour then broke away.

"Dalla we soon have to go in so we'd be early." Trish says standing near my suitcases. I nod walking over to my family. My mother and father were in tears, my grandmother sat in her wheelchair holding back tears.

"Do your very best." She says and I nod stepping over to my dad.

"Please be safe and don't do anything I wouldn't do." He says as I hugged him. I wasn't expecting my brother to hug me. I hadn't gotten a hug from him in years. So when he lifted me in the air and placed a kiss on my head, I was beyond shock. I burst into more tears not wanting the moment to end. He places me down and lets go. He opens my hand and places something into it. It was the bracelet I'd lost that he'd given to me for my seventh birthday.

"Where did you find it." I asked. He just shrugs as I go to hug him again but this time he places a hand up. I chuckle it was expected of him. I couldn't push my luck twice. I turned back to my friends and extend my hands. All twenty of them squeezed me in a group hug not wanting to let go until the second warning came from Sherry stopped. My suitcases were gone signaling to me that she'd sent them onto the plane. I got out my passport and other information out of the plastic folder my father placed them in and walked up the line. I was surprised to see a credit card in there too. I smiled as I walked up to the security guard with the other members of the band. Cameron was in front of us with his father, Vince who was one of the pianist. With one last wave to my family, Church members and friends after getting my information checked I disappeared behind the tinted doors to do customs checking. I was beyond emotional but I hid it not wanting to alarm the other members.

"Dalla what's your seat number?" Jude asks me. He was the second pianist and a good friend of Vince. I looked down at the plane ticket as I held my carry-on so it wouldn't slip away from me. Everyone was looking at me but only two particular eyes made me nervous.

"B36." I say as I looked at it.

"Oh she's next to me," a deep panty dropping voice says. Then it hit me I'd be sitting next to Cameron. My eyes almost bulged when I realized I'd be siting next to him. I couldn't wait to embarrass myself.

~~~~~

We were all sitting in the waiting area. We'd gotten there quite early. By the time I looked on the clock it was half past six. We had an early seven o'clock flight. I was nervous. I wasn't scared of being on planes it's just the fact I'd be sitting down next to him. I took out my tablet. Chris had downloaded a lot of K-pop and other music after I begged him to. At the thought of my brother I looked at the bracelet that had my name on it in red rubies with a small smile. How he afforded this at eleven was beyond me. I was just about to place earphones in and listen to the music when our flight number was called for boarding. I grabbed my backpack and carry-on and headed to the gate.

The hot sun hit my body. It had no right being this hot. The huge planes made a lot of noise. I walked over the tarmac and towards the stairs to the plane. Once at the top I looked back at the triangular top of the airport then over to where people would watch the planes take off. I knew that my family and friends would be there watching me go. I whispered a small prayer for them to return home safety as I took a step into the plane and searched for my seat.

It wasn't hard as Cameron had already gotten comfortable in his seat. I was having trouble getting my carry-on into the overhead bin. With a waft of his cologne past my nose as I took a deep frustrated breathe to see Cameron taking my bag and helping my get it into the over-head bin. I brought my backpack with me into the seat. Then moments after Cameron sat next to me. I tensed up. For a second I'd forgotten we'd be sitting with each other and the funny thing was there wasn't going to be anyone else in our aisle as everyone found their seats. At this point the flight attendants did their usual brief and allowed us to watch the safety video. I fastened my seat belt as did everyone else.

It wasn't my first time on a Jet-blue airlines but with Cameron it was whole different story. The plane began to move onto the runway. I looked out to the place where my parents would be watching the plane take off a sigh leaves my lips. I look forward at the engines as they roared preparing to be airborne.

"Are you nervous." He asks me seeing how I clenched the seat handle when he places his hand on his seat handle.

"Yes." I say. I wasn't lying I was nervous but not because of the plane taking off. He places his hand in mine and I felt as if I'd explode.

"I hope this calms you down." He says flashing me a smile. It certainly didn't but I smiled back at him for the kind gesture.

"Thank you," I said turning to look outside. The plane began to move picking up speed and soon it was lifting off. I sighed trying to relax but his hand moving to intertwine with mine only made my heart beat faster.

After a few minutes the seat belt sign turned off and I was free to move around. I wanted to go into my bag but my hand was being hindered. I didn't mind it though, it felt good, like my hand and his were meant to be together. I reluctantly let go however and took out my tablet and hoodie. I placed on my hoodie as I was getting cold and once more plugged my earphones and turned on Celebrity by IU. I began to relax when his hand slipped back into mine. My brain was going haywire. Why did he do that I wandered. Then one of my earphones were gently pulled out and hot breathe tickle my ear.

"Who said you could stop holding my hand." Cameron asks and I just looked at him not sure how to react. Then he chuckled. Confusing me further. What was happening?

I shrugged it off and closed my eyes once he placed the earphone back in. Seeing as I'd woken up early I soon fell asleep but not before feeling my head being placed on a shoulder.

~~~~~

I was nudged awake by someone. When open my eyes I saw Cameron looking at me and what a sight to wake to.

"It's soon time to land." He says as he clips his seat belt and I yawn and try to stretch only realizing that our hands were still together. Not only that, my head was also rested on his shoulder. I slowly lift it and place my seat belt around my waist dazed as I do so.

The plane soon lands and we a wait a few minutes before exiting. I grab my luggage and walk out the aisle. Cameron had let go of my hand making me miss it. I stepped out through the tunnel and into the airport. A big sign hanging from the roof said welcome to Miami, Florida. I smile there was no turning back now. The USA tour started now.