Slipknot's Daughter

Chapter 10

*A MONTH LATER*
Today was the day all the high schoolers were waiting for; the last day of school. My last class, Religion, was buzzing with excitement and anticipation. I was bouncing in my seat, anxious for the bell to ring so I could go home and start packing.
I was going with Corey and the band on their summer tour, which would start on June 5th in Nuremberg, Germany. I was extremely excited, since this would be the first time I had traveled internationally (Corey and the others simply wanted to get out of Oregon).
Anxious to do something with my hands, I begin packing up my bag. Finally, at 2:55, the bell rings. My other classmates make a beeline for the door and into the hall.
I follow along, after wishing my religion teacher, Mr. Wilde, a happy summer.
Going out into the hall, I search for Ricky and Alena. I begin walking to the main entrance, looking around for them. When I didn't find them, I frown, then head outside.
I see Corey waiting for me in his car. He was waving to me a little impatiently, and I see Sid and Shawn in the backseat with him.
I laugh and hurry over to the car, opening the door and hopping in. Corey peels away from the curb before I could shut the car door.
"Sorry for the rush," Corey says, turning onto the street, "But we need to hurry home... Our flight for Germany leaves in three hours, and I wanted to give everyone time to pack." He continues murmuring to himself while Sid reaches over and gently tugs on my hair.
"How was school?" he asks.
I giggle and pull away. "Fun," I reply. "We didn't really do much, except talk about opportunities for next year, like Student Council and stuff."
Shawn sighs with happiness. "I always loved the last day of school," he says. "That was always when I would pull pranks on the teachers..."
I roll my eyes. "Why does that not surprise me?" I snort.
We go back and forth like that until we reach home. Jumping out of the car, we enter the house to find a mild chaos occurring inside. Everyone was running around and gathering things to pack. Myself, I run up to my room and toss all my clothes into a new suitcase Corey had bought for me. I then go into the bathroom and gather all my makeup and hair paraphernalia. I finish quickly, then check to make sure I had my passport and ticket. These I tuck safely into my purse, which I then place in my backpack, where I had stored my iPad and phone.
I was finished, so I take my luggage downstairs. Craig moves them out to a van Corey had rented to take our stuff to the airport. I follow him to the porch, where I noticed that a lot of other luggage in there as well. I hoped this meant that we would be going soon.
My hopes were confirmed, as Chris comes out with two suitcases and the rest of the band following behind him. "All right!" Chris calls behind him. "Everyone's suitcases are in the van! Check to see if you have all your paperwork!" He waves his passport and ticket for emphasis. The others pull out theirs and hold them up.
Chris nods, pleased. "Everyone have their masks?" he asks.
"Well, duh!" Joey yells out. Everyone chuckles and Chris rolls his eyes.
"Wait! Colleen doesn't have a mask!" Sid exclaims suddenly.
"Oh, it's fine, Sid... I don't think I'll be up onstage with you anyway." I say, shrugging.
Corey gives Shawn a sly glance.
"Well, damn," Shawn sighs. "Then I guess this mask won't be needed..." From his back pocket, he pulls out a small gray mask with slim black elastic strips attached to the back.
I gasp, then run to him and grab it from his hand. Running my fingers over it, I inspect it.
It was smooth gray rubber, and it had rosy red lips that had two stitches holding both sides closed. A thick 'scar' ran from the right side of the mouth up to the edge of the mask, and it too was stitched together. I grin excitedly.
"Try it on, Col," Corey urges.
I slip the elastic strips behind my head and adjust the mask so that I could see out the eyes, which were large in size. I move my lips, and find that I could easily speak through it.
I squeal, "I love it!!"
Everyone was smiling at me. "It looks great," Shawn says.
Craig nods quietly.
"Absolutely! You look adorable!" Sid agrees, chuckling.
I roll my eyes. "I wasn't going for adorable, Sid," I say.
Mick smirks.
"Now you're part of the band, as well as the family," Corey says softly.
At this, a huge grin spread across my face and tears well up in my eyes. "You don't know how much this means to me," I whisper, slipping the mask off and cradling it in my hands. The tears start sliding down my cheeks, and Corey pulls me into a tight hug.
"We do, Col," he murmurs. "We really do."
Everyone else comes in for a group hug. I hear Shawn say, "We love you, Colleen. You're one of us now."
"Yeah, no backing out!" Sid chimes in.
We all laugh, and I giggle, wiping my tears away.
"Hey, we're back to nine," Joey observes.
I suddenly remember.
Paul Gray.
Corey had told me about the late bassist, and how he had died of a drug overdose in 2010. Since then, it had just been the eight of them. Now that I was here, we made up nine.
Everyone nods sadly. I could tell that they all missed him. I also knew that they were searching for a new bassist. Luckily, they had a promising one, a man by the name of Alessandro Venturella (Alex for short). He was waiting for them in Germany. Alex had been over frequently in the last month, reviewing all the songs that were going to be played at the concert and practicing with the rest of the band. Recently, he had gone ahead to Germany to meet with the people who were running the concert to let them know that he would be the new bassist and to just prepare for the concert. So actually, with me included, we made up ten.
"No, Joey, we're ten now," Mick says. voicing my thoughts. "Remember the new bassist, Alex?"
"Oh, right," Joey muses.
Chris rolls his eyes.
"Um, guys?" Jim pipes up. "Shouldn't we be going now?"
Everyone freezes for a second, then we all rush for the bus.
There was a lot of pushing and shoving, and somehow I found myself being given a piggyback ride by Mick. "Don't want the little one to be squashed," he jokes.
I lightly punch his shoulder. "I'm not little! You're just freakishly tall!" I retort. He laughs openly and enters the bus, plopping me down onto the couch next to Sid.
I huff indignantly, then examine my mask again, brushing little specks of dust off of the cool gray rubber.
Sid looks over my shoulder at it. "Y'know, it is cute compared to masks like Corey's and Mick's," he says. "More feminine."
I cock my head. "You're right," I agree. "Especially compared to mine," Sid replies, pulling out his own mask and strapping it on his face.
I laugh, then hold up my mask alongside his. "Definitely more feminine," I say.
He laughs as the bus pulls out of the driveway and we head off to the airport.