McKenna "Mikey" Rhodes is in a quickly growing band. This year her band is booked to play Self Help Fest, a music festival created by the band A Day to Remember. It sounds great, right? Things take a turn for the worst, calling for a change of pl...
Song: So Long and Thanks for the Booze - All Time Low
McKenna
"Should we wake her up?"
"I don't know. I feel like we should let her sleep."
"I just don't want her to wake up and panic when she can't find us."
"We could steal her phone and put our numbers in it."
This woke me up just enough to say, "touch my phone and you die." I heard chuckling from the other side of the room. I flicked one eye open and saw Neil and Josh standing in the doorway of the back lounge. My head was laying where Neil sat last night.
"We're going to Denny's for breakfast. Care to join us?" Neil asked me. I opened both eyes and sat up, suddenly feeling quite hungry.
"Yeah. Give me a minute to wake up." I groaned, rubbing my eyes.
"Well, it'll be about that long until we get there." Josh told me. They both disappeared to the front of the bus.
I got up and ducked into "my" bunk. I changed into the clothes I was wearing the day before. I took Josh's shirt and shorts with me to the front of the bus.
"Think fast." I said before chucking them at Josh's face. He did not think very fast at all.
"Thanks." He mumbled.
"Thank you for letting me borrow them." I said. I stepped into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like shit to say the least. My makeup from yesterday was smudged around my eyes, a combination of rubbing them and crying.
I used my finger to wipe away whatever eyeliner and mascara was left. I then ran my fingers through my hair and put it in a bun with a hair tie I had around my wrist.
I walked out of the bathroom just as we arrived at Denny's. I sat between Neil and Alex, with Jeremy directly in front of me and Josh and Kevin sat on his sides. We all ordered our food and talked while we waited for it.
"So what are your plans for today?" I asked, taking a sip of my coffee I ordered.
"Probably just wander around. Do whatever. Nothing specific." Jeremy shrugged. "Have you figured out what you're going to do?"
"Just catch a flight home I guess. There's not a whole lot else I can do." I sighed. I caught Jeremy share a look with Neil, a strange expression on his face. I didn't think much of it.
The guys talked but I mainly just zoned out and thought about what I was going to do. Going back home to Utah seemed like my only option.
The food arrived and we dug in. I tried to keep out of my thoughts too much and enjoy my time with the boys. I noticed a few minutes after we got our food that I wasn't the only one struggling to keep up with the conversation.
"Jer?" Kevin nudged Jeremy. He had said something to him but Jeremy didn't reply. He was doing something on his phone.
"Huh?" He looked up suddenly. Kevin just laughed and repeated what he said. After Jeremy responded he showed whatever was on his phone screen to Kevin. Kevin just smiled and nodded. Jeremy looked to me.
"How set on going home are you?" He asked with a sly smirk. My heart fluttered.
"Not at all. Why?" I asked.
"How do you feel about joining us for this next tour?"
It suddenly felt like I had a ballerina on crack for a heart.
"For real?" I finally asked.
"Yeah, for real." He chuckled. "I just talked to Sal and asked him about you joining the crew and he was all for it." Jeremy smiled at me. I didn't say anything. I couldn't. I was in shock. "So...what do you say?"
"Yes." I choked out. A huge smile plastered my face. "Yes. I'd love to. Thank you so much." I thought about what had just happened. "What exactly will I be doing?" I asked.
"He didn't give me many details but he said that he could hire you as the band and crew's assistant. Whatever that means. I'm sure he can give a better job description when we get back to the bus." Jeremy explained.
"Well, no matter what I end up doing, thank you. It means a lot." I couldn't get rid of my smile.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
We finished eating and got back on the bus. Sal gave me a run down of what I would be doing. Basically my job was to help everyone with their job. If any of the crew needed assistance on whatever, I was to help. If any of the band needed assistance on whatever, I was to help. And I also had to make sure that everyone was at the venue in time for soundchecking and the show, and also back on the bus at a certain time every night.
It sounded like a bit of a busy job, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Sal said I wouldn't be getting paid for the first week or two until he could get me officially signed on as a crew member. But I didn't mind.
"I'm excited that you're joining us." Neil smiled at me when Sal had explained everything.
"Me too. I look forward to it." I smiled back as we pulled back into the venue parking space. My phone started ringing. It was Shane. I hesitantly answered.
"What?"
"We're leaving in an hour. We've got all your stuff ready to go if you could come pick it up." He said. I could hear the shame in his voice.
"I'll be there in a few minutes." I sighed. I hung up before he could say anything. "I'm going to go get my stuff from my old bus." I told Neil.
"Do you need help?"
"I think I've got a quite a few things, so if you wouldn't mind." I shoved my phone in my back pocket.
"Of course not." He smiled and followed me off the bus and towards my old one.
As we approached I saw my old tour manager standing outside the bus with all of my bags in a nice pile.
"I figured you probably didn't want to see them so I just thought I'd meet you out here with everything." Max shrugged. He had a sad expression on his face.
"You would be right, and I appreciate it." I sighed.
"I didn't know about any of that, Mikey." He frowned. "I would have told you if I did."
"Thank you, Max." I hugged him.
"Where are you going from here?" He asked, seemingly noticing Neil for the first time.
"I just got added to the A Day to Remember crew." I told him, glancing at Neil. "Neil, this is Max. Our, or I guess their, tour manager now." They shook hands.
"I'm glad you found something to keep you busy." Max hugged me one more time before handing my bags to Neil and I. "Keep in touch, alright?"
"Will do. Thanks, Max."
Neil and I started walking back to the bus with my stuff.
"I hope this isn't going to take up too much room." I said, realizing that I had three suitcases, a backpack, and a few blankets and pillows.
"We'll make it fit." Neil assured me.
"Thanks again, Neil." I told him as we walked.
"Its not a problem. I honestly thought you'd have more." He gestured to the blankets and pillows in his arms.
"I just meant for everything. This, keeping me company yesterday, all of it." He smiled.
"Again, its not a problem at all. I look forward to this next tour with you."
