A New Hope

Chapter 13: Vegas Part 1

I woke up the next morning to the horrid smell of coffee.

I pulled my blanket over my head, but then someone pulled it off. I turned around and saw Brendon. I turned back around. "Let me sleep!" I whined, grabbing my stuffed koala (yes, I sleep with a stuffed animal, don't judge) and closing my eyes.

"No. Come on, it's already 8:00," he responded.

"It's only 8:00?!"

"Get up. Now."

"Ugh, fine."

I got out of bed and walked into the main lounge. I sat down on the couch next to Dallon. "You're finally awake," he said.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I wouldn't be, but Brendon made me."

"Chloe, it's 8:00. You should be up by now," Brendon said.

"No. I sleep until 9 when I don't have school since I get up at 7 on school days. It's how my sleep cycle works."

Kenny laughed. "Not on this tour bus."

I sighed. "Why are you guys up so early?"

"We need to put the set list together and stuff. Plus, you need to be up to pick your cover song," Brendon said.

"Wait, so that's a regular thing now?"

Dallon nodded. "Yeah, why not."

I smiled. "Cool. I think I'm gonna cover Nicotine. It's my favorite Panic! song, so why not."

Everyone nodded, and I could tell they were kinda relieved that they didn't have to learn a new song. I nodded a "good" and went back over to my bunk to grab my phone. When I grabbed it, I saw I had a missed call from Baylee. I called her back. "Hey B, what's up?" I asked when she picked up.

"I just wanted to tell you that you rocked it last night. That was a great song choice, and what you did for that girl Mackenzie was amazing!"

"Thanks Baylee. I had fun doing it. I helped her face her fears, gave her one of Brendon's old shirts, had the boys sign it, that kind of stuff."

"Wow, I wish that was me."

"Sweetie, you are aware that you're allowed to talk to them any time you want, right?"

"Oh, right. I forget sometimes."

"Yeah. Anyway, I get to cover another song today. I'm gonna cover Nicotine. Awesome, huh?"

"Yeah! Where are you guys tonight?"

"Vegas, Panic!'s birthplace. Isn't that so cool?! And get this, me doing covers is a regular thing now! Like, every concert!"

"Wow, that's so cool. I wish I could tour with you."

"I wish you were here too. I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's ok. One day, maybe."

"Yeah. Anyway, I'm gonna go eat breakfast. I'll call you after the concert later."

"Ok, bye!"

"Bye."

I hung up. I went into the lounge and pulled out the book "Paper Towns" from my book bag. I had already read the first two parts (it's split into three) and I was excited to see what happened next. While I was reading, my phone rang. It was Mackenzie, so I picked up. "Hey, what's up?"

"Chloe, I wanna bash my sister's head in. Ugh, she won't leave me alone. She read my diary, and now she's threatening to show it to the whole school."

"Put her on the phone."

I patiently waited. When Zoey said hello, I attacked. "Zoey, if you show that diary to the school you will be in huge trouble because with as much as Mackenzie's told me, your mom seems pretty understanding, so what if I just gave her a call, huh?"