My Knight in Shining Armor

Chapter 4: Amie

The next few days flew by. I was really busy shopping and making sure that everything would be ready for when it was time to go. By late Wednesday night, I was finally finished.

Thursday morning came way too soon. I slammed my hand down on my alarm clock, turning it off. I rolled over and must have fallen back asleep because next thing I knew, my bedroom door was being thrown open and there was a weight on top of me.

"Wake up sunshine." The figure on top of me said, shaking me.

"Mm...hello?" I opened my eyes to find Alexander on top of me. I heard movement by my door and turned my head to the side to see Christian, Will, and Dylan.

"You fell back asleep Ams." Will told me.

"Oh." I said kind of embarrassed.

"Is this all your stuff?" Christian asked pointing to the pile of bags by the door.

"Yeah, except my pillow." He nodded and he and Will began to carry everything down. Alexander got off my bed so I could get up. "Um..." I paused on my way to the bathroom. "Do I need to change?"

"No. You can go back to sleep once we're all on the bus if you'd like. The rest of us aren't dressed either." Dylan answered me.

I nodded and continued to the bathroom. When I came out, I found that Dylan, Alexander, and my pillow had all disappeared. I gave my room a last once-over to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything before heading downstairs. Christian was coming back to get my last bag.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think. Want to give me a lift?" I asked hopefully.

He laughed. "Sure. Come here."

I jumped on his back. Once I was settled and he was sure that I wouldn't fall, he bent slightly and grabbed my backpack before shutting the door and heading for two large taxis that were waiting outside. He dropped me off at the door to the second taxi and handed me my bag before climbing on behind me.

"Okay. Everyone's here. Good to go." Christiancalled up to the driver. 

And we were off, the taxis snaking through the sparse early morning traffic toward where the tour buses were waiting outside the warehouse where the band had been rehearsing for the last several weeks. Will and Alexander were in the first taxi with most of the luggage while Christian, Dylan, and I were in the second taxi with the rest of our things. Once we arrived and the taxis unloaded, the next thirty minutes were spent loading our bags under the bus and making sure that nothing was forgotten. We each kept a bag with us to put on the bus so that we had some clothes available to us at all times. As the tour went on, we would be able to switch out bags and clothes as we wanted at each city stop.

I'd fished some sandals out after we'd arrived so that I wouldn't be standing around barefoot while the band and crew double checked everything. Since I hadn't seen them off on their last tour, I was fascinated by the process and wanted to watch as they efficiently loaded the equipment. I tried my best to stay out of the way until Will told me that they were done and we were ready to roll out. Following my friends onto their bus, I plopped down on the couch between Dylan and Will. Dylan gave the driver the all clear and the bus slowly started to move. I couldn't imagine what a sight this would be, to see a small caravan of eighteen wheelers and a tour bus making their way out of town. Despite all the excitement of the morning so far, I was still tired. My excitement at the prospect of accompanying my friends on tour having kept me up the night before. "So who wants to show me where my bunk is?" I asked, laying my head on my cousin's shoulder.

"Any of us. We're all going back to get some more sleep too." Christian tod me. "Come on." He stood up and led the way to the back of the bus. The rest of us followed behind him.

"We'll put our stuff away later. Until then, be careful." Will said. "Okay, Will and I have these two bunks, Dylan and Alexander have those two and you have this one. It's across from Alexander and next to mine. The one above you is empty so we usually put extra stuff there or something unless we have someone visiting. And then through that door is the bathroom and through there is the back room, kind of like our den at home."

"Okay. Well, goodnight." I told them all and pulled aside the curtain and climbed in. someone had thrown my pillow on the mattress and the package of bedding I'd brought. I didn't bother to properly make the bed; I just pulled the top sheet out and put my pillow at one end of the bed before lying down and eventually falling asleep.