Ketchum, ID

ch 31 - julien

 "Well come on, JB, tell the people! How did the song work out for you?" Phoebe said as she walked over to me to put her arm around my shoulders and held her mic up to my face.

"I mean, I'd say it worked out pretty well," I said into Phoebe's microphone.

I turned to Phoebe and Lucy and motioned for them to move their microphones so the crowd couldn't hear what I was about to say to them.

"Should I tell them I have a girlfriend? I mean I would have to run it by Jo first so she isn't caught off guard, but I could call her?" I said, causing them to violently nod in response.

I took my guitar off and handed it to Lucy so I could run backstage and grab my phone to call Jo. I was considering just calling her backstage, but I figured it would be suspicious if I stayed backstage too long, and I didn't want Phoebe and Lucy to have to entertain the crowd alone for too long, so I grabbed my phone and jogged back on stage with them. The room erupted in cheers when they saw me again, and I immediately got nervous. I went to find Jo's contact and pressed call as the room got quiet. I listened to it ring and ring, and eventually I got Jo's voicemail.

"Well, she didn't answer," I said into my mic, causing the crowd to boo.

"CALL HER AGAIN! CALL HER AGAIN! CALL HER AGAIN!" I heard a few people yelling, and then suddenly the entire room erupted in the chant.

I decided I could try her one more time without annoying her too bad at work, so I nodded to the crowd and pressed call again. This time, Jo answered.

"Hey angel," I heard her say.

"Hey!" I said back as I stepped away from any microphones so the crowd wasn't hearing every word I said.

"Is the show already over?" Jo asked in a confused tone.

"Actually, I'm on stage," I replied. "I was actually calling because the crowd wanted to know how writing Ketchum, ID worked out for me and I was wondering if you were okay if I told the crowd I have a girlfriend?"

It felt like an eternity before she answered, and I started to worry that she was going to be upset I would even think to ask something like that.

"Of course you can, angel," she finally replied. "But I have to go, so good luck with the rest of your show! I love you!"

I love you. I froze in my place as the words bounced around my brain. I love you. I knew I couldn't keep this to myself, and I finally mustered the strength to walk back over closer to Phoebe and Lucy. I put my hand over the speaker so Jo didn't hear me tell them what just happened, but I should have known Phoebe was going to have a vocal reaction.

"Oh my god!!" Phoebe screamed, causing the crowd to start talking to each other confused.

"Uh, I'm-" Jo started to say, causing me to remember she was in fact still on the phone with me and the events of the past minute were not a dream.

"I love you too," I said with a goofy smile on my face.

"Uh, I have to go," she said, causing me to frown a little. "But we will definitely be talking about this later. But I meant what I said."

"I meant it too," I said, my smile back in tact.

She ended the call, and I slid my phone back in my pocket as Phoebe stepped back up to her microphone.

"Well, we just got some news, but I'll let Julien tell you guys," she said as the crowd screamed.

"So uh," I said awkwardly, this time into my mic. "I just got off the phone, with my girlfriend," I paused, still slightly nervous for the reaction despite the euphoric feeling that phone call just gave me. The crowd exploded in screaming, but I couldn't tell if it was a positive scream or a negative scream. "And she uh, she said she loves me."

The crowd got even louder, and I could not wipe the smile off of my face.

"And she said she loves her back!" Phoebe shouted into her microphone.

The crowd somehow managed to get even louder, and I wish that Jo had been here to see how people were reacting to the news. I couldn't wait to get off this stage and call her to tell her all about it.

"Why couldn't that be me!" I heard someone scream, causing me to turn my head.

"Well, what an evening!" Phoebe said to the crowd, causing them to cheer again. "What do you say we sing Ketchum, ID for you all? We'll dedicate it to our friends from out there. Sing along if you know the words!"

We finished the rest of the show, stopping in between each song so we could have somewhat of a conversation with the crowd. Since it was the first night of the tour, we were still figuring out our rhythm on stage, but after the last song, we left the stage feeling pretty proud of ourselves. The rush of the show had almost taken my mind off of the conversation Jo and I had. Almost.

"We did it!" Lucy exclaimed the second we got backstage.

"Boygenius is on tour!" Phoebe shouted as she pulled Lucy and I into a very sweaty group hug.

"We did it," I said with the biggest smile on my face. "I'm so proud of us."

"Now that our excitement has been announced," Phoebe said. "I think we have something that needs to be addressed." She put on as serious of a face that she could conjure up before turning to face me directly. "You and Jo love each other!" she screamed.

"Well that's old news," Lucy chimed in. "But you both know it now!"

I felt my cheeks heating up as I smiled and looked at the floor.

"I actually need to talk to her," I said nervously. "I don't think she realized what she was saying when she said it. But she did tell me she meant what she said, so that takes some of the nerves away."

"Well let's go back to the dressing room and you can call her! What are we waiting for?" Phoebe asked as she grabbed my hand and started dragging me further backstage.

We passed multiple people who congratulated us on the first show of the tour on our way back to the dressing room, but Phoebe was on a mission to get us to our destination.

"I don't understand why you're rushing us back there when I've had my phone in my pocket since I called her on stage," I said, out of breath from the pace she had been dragging me at.

"Well why didn't you say something, JB?" Phoebe said, panting and showing that she was out of breath as well. "Call her now!"

"Okay, okay," I said, trying to catch my breath before I called my girlfriend.

We continued to walk in the direction of our dressing room as I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and pulled up Jo's contact yet again. I pressed call right as we made it to the door of our dressing room, and I hit call as Phoebe was lifting her hand to open the door. As I held the phone up to my ear to hear the ringing, I heard an all too familiar ringtone coming from inside the dressing room, and I froze in place for the second time that night. 

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i just wanted to say i am writing this on a google doc before copying it and pasting it into wattpad so i know i have a copy of it if for some reason it doesn't save on here and said google doc is currently 79 pages long