Fluorescents

51

" They gon' find you
Gon' catch you sleepin'
Now stay woke."

I mumble the lyrics to one of my favorite songs and pull out the wires before beginning to organize them. Eventually Jack walks by and helps me out, the whole crew doing their part and getting everything done as quickly as possible.

" I love that song." Shay mutters coming up from beside me as she dangles sour candy string from her hand. I look at her for a second before looking back at the wires and nod, slightly embarrassed that she caught me somewhat singing. " You're good." She compliments me, a wide grin on her face. I roll my eyes and huff in my spot as I continue organizing the wires. " I'm serious." She says nudging my shoulder and letting out a light laugh after wards. I raise my hands in surrender and shrug my shoulders, still not convinced. " The show tonight wasn't that great." She comments, stuffing some of the sour string in her mouth before offering me some. Yesterday after the Columbus show we took the three hour drive to arrive here in Pittsburgh and perform tonight, yet again another work day without a break. " I always get Philadelphia and Pittsburgh confused." She randomly states as I reach forward and take some of the string from her hand.  

" You're stupid." I tease her, stuffing some of the candy in my mouth as she does so as well. She nudges my shoulder once again and sticks her tongue out at me like a child before looking over at the piles of wires and scrunching her nose in disgust. She fumbles with the candy in her hand and I find myself getting distracted and drifting off as she's twirls it in her hands. I'm slightly confused with her sudden happy demeanor but I don't plan on bringing it up. Her breakup was rough on her and if she's happy even for just a moment I won't be the one to question it.

" Why do you guys need so much fucking wires?" Shay groans by my side still gazing at the piles of what surely looks like random strings spread out across a table. I laugh at her ignorance and pull the sections father apart from one another, allowing her to see the somewhat organized mess. " I don't get how you can do that." She scoffs at her own expense, taking another piece of candy and stuffing it into her mouth. I reach for another piece and she hands me one as I finish my work off and we get ready to depart for The Big Apple.

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" Who are you calling?" Claire comes up from beside me as I hold the phone against the side of my face and gaze at Shay typing intently into her new phone. I lift my finger up to my mouth to indicate for Claire to be quiet before gazing back at Shay as she looks at a number in her book before starting to type it into her phone, the sound of it ringing keeping her from finishing. She rolls her eyes and picks it up before sliding to answer and holding it against her ear.

" Who is it?" She groans against the phone, her voice sounding through the other end of mine. She turns to look at me and me and Claire laugh as she rolls her eyes and pulls the phone away, hanging up on the call seconds later.
" You guys are ridiculous." She states before putting her attention back on her phone and small notepad.

" How much numbers do you need to type in?" I ask as I approach her on the booth we call our dining table. She quickly shuts the book and gazes up at me, biting down on her lip and raising an eyebrow at me. I laugh lightly and nod my head, slightly taken aback by her seclusion. " is there something I should know?" I ask not sure how to react from seeing her so put off. She shakes her head and gets up from the booth before walking back into the bunks and coming back without her notepad. I don't bother asking anything else and sit back down on the couch with Claire. I pull out my own phone and get ready to unlock it but before I can finish typing in my password a familiar caller ID and my reflection shows up on my phone.

" HELLO!" Matt shouts through the phone as he waves at me through the FaceTime call. I laugh lightly and wave back as Shay lands down on the couch right next to me, peering her head to catch a glimpse of the person on the other side of the call. " Hey Shay." Matt states with a grin, Shay waving back at him seconds later. " What you guys been up to?" He asks us as we sit on the couch and look at him through the small screen.