"She's from here? Didn't see that coming." Kennedy spat.
"Her name's Mauve. That's according to her Twitter though."
Pat, the long-haired drummer, joined in the conversation. "Mauve? As in... the... the color?"
"How do you even know this stuff?"
The girl they have been talking about for the last several minutes walked towards them. She wasn't taller than anyone in the band, had auburn haid down to her shoulders, and eyes that had a certain shade of hazel in them.
She was in awe, but kept her cool. "Yeah, just like the color." A tight-lipped smile accompanied by a small wave greeted the guys. "Hey."
"Hi Mauve! I like your name. It's pretty." Pat warmed up to her instantly. "Can I hug you?"
"You don't even need to ask," she giggled.
Someone caught her eye. He was there, his back on the bus's side. The boy she adored and liked all those years is finally within her line of sight. The only thing she did not anticipate was his deathly glare. He wasn't planning on approaching her even.
"Don't worry about him. He's a loner and I know you already knew that."
"Come on, people. Let's get this trip started." The band's roadie cut in. "Everyone on the bus!"
"This is going to be fu-uh-un!" John was enthusiastic and nothing more.
The first day of their ride to New York City was full of story-swapping and fun games between Mauve and the band -- well, except Garrett, that is. He liked to stay on the sidelines. For some reason, he couldn't keep his eyes off of Mauve but he didn't want to approach her since he knew very well from experience that Garrett Nickelsen plus romantic involvement with girls equals disaster.
"Hey Gar, why don't you play Monopoly with us? You love this game!" John enthusiastically exclaimed. Garrett just shook his head and excused himself from the group. Mauve was about to follow him but Jared stopped her. It'd be best to leave him alone... for now; he'll warm up to you eventually," he assured her.
By the time they retired to their beds, t'was only ten in the evening. It was because their roadie reminded them that they arrive at NYC first thing tomorrow morning, and it'd be a shame if they couldn't enjoy their fans there because of sleep-deprivation.
But while the boys were all fast asleep, Mauve lay awake, sleep unable to find its way to her. It's not because of Garrett boring holes at the back of her head with his eyes earlier; this has always been a problem with Mauve to begin with. She couldn't sleep on unfamiliar grounds. With a sigh of defeat, she got up from bed and trudged toward the makeshift kitchen. For a bus, this sure is roomy! She chuckled at the thought.
"Why are you still up?" a voice came from behind her, causing her to nearly drop her box of gummy bears. To say she was startled was an understatement; being easily spooked was yet another thing that kept Mauve up at night.
"Garrett," she said breathlessly at the man she least expected to see at that ungodly hour, as she tried to recover from her initial shock. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be driving?"
He shrugged. "This bus comes with autopilot," he replied nonchalantly.
"That's possible?" she asked with wide eyes, surprised as to all the new things she's discovering about The Maine's tour bus.
"Apparently so," was all he said before he took a gummy bear from Mauve's box. She was about to say something more but her tongue won't let her. Besides, her brain turned to mush as well. He took a gummy bear from my box, she repeated incredulously to herself. A giddy smile crept up her face.
Garrett caught a glimpse of this and smirked. T;was creepy, but adoable still, he thought to himself. He blinked twice before mentally slapping himself for having such thoughts. Get yourself together, man! She's just a girl, he scolded.
With one last look in her direction as she made her way back to her bed with her box of gummy bears in hand, he combed his fingers through his hair and retreated to the driver's seat.
In an attempt to get her out of his mind, he started counting the road signs. Unfortunately, this seemed to do more harm with every sign they pass since he nearly fell asleep had their roadie not woken him up to take his shift for the rest of the night.
I really need to get myself together, Garrett thought with a yawn as he made his way to the couch, too sleepy to even reach his respective bed.
The next morning, Mauve was the first to wake up, just as she had expected. What she didn't expect though, was seeing Garrett Nickelsen sprawled on the couch with his arm twisted in a very uncomfortable-looking position. She didn't dare approach him though; she just chuckled and started making enough coffee for everyone -- it was what gained their family's quaint cafe a name for itself in the entirity of Arizona, after all.
Soon enough, all the boys were wide awake and contentedly sipping on their mugs of coffee -- and yes, including Garrett. Mauve smiled but couldn't help thinking; I just might get too attached to this group...
