Falling Asleep On A Stranger

Chapter 8

Tony:

What was Jaime thinking? Did he really just hit on her? It shouldn’t have bothered me, but it did. I stood up and headed to the back of the bus to breathe. Relax Tony, that’s just how he is. It doesn’t mean he’s into her. He’s just confident and nice to everyone. I shouldn’t even care anyway. But somewhere deep inside I knew I did. I took a deep breath and walked back to the front of the bus.

“Where’d you go man?” Vic looked up at me as took my seat beside him once again. “I just checked up on Mike to see if he had been able to sleep.” “Oh alright, how is he?” “Passed out like a bear in hibernation.” I forced out a laugh. I could hear Jenna laugh and I smiled. “Well, if you guys don’t mind I’m going to hit the sack. It is three in the morning after all. It was nice meeting you Jenn. You should hang around more often. You could be a pretty good friend.” Jaime said and smiled as lifted her to her feet for a hug. “Thanks Hime. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” She smiled. Jaime said his goodnights to Vic and me, then headed to his bunk, closing the bunk curtain behind him.

“So you must be a pretty cool girl to have kept Tony up so late after a show.” Vic spoke up and I looked over at Jenna, curious about how she’d respond. She laughed her shy laugh. “I guess I am. I think Tony is better off answering that himself.” She looked at me smiling nervously. “Well it was the last show of the tour so I don’t really have to sleep early because I can wake up as late as I want to tomorrow. But yes, she’s beyond cool.” Vic nodded, “Okay that’s true. Damn, can you believe the tour is over already? And finally we get a few months off. I’m sure going to miss it but we deserve the break.” We both laughed. “Yeah. I’m stoked about the break. We’ve been out for a year and a half straight without a real break.” “Yupp. Anyway, unlike you I’m pretty damn tired, so I’m going to check out for the night. Great talking to you Jenna. And like Jaime said, take advantage of our break and don’t be a stranger. We’d love to have you around sometime when we’re not all dead tired.” He laughed, said goodnight to Jenna and me then headed off toward his bunk, leaving Jenna and I alone.

I stood and walked across to sit next to her. “So what did you think of the guys?” Rephrase: What did you think of Jaime? I don’t know why it bothered me so much. “They’re great, Vic was really nice and Jaime was sweet. I liked that he acted so natural, like if I was an old friend.” My smile fell a bit. “Yeah, he’s like that.” She looked at me a bit confused. “Is everything okay Tone?” “What? Oh, yeah. . . it’s just that. . . you seemed to be having fun talking to Jaime. As if you liked him.” I said it before I could bite back my own words and miss out on my chance of knowing her opinion of him. She laughed and I felt my face get red. “Is someone jealous that they might have to share their stalker? Don’t worry, Tone. I don’t like him. He was just real nice. I think he could be a good friend, but that’s it.” I felt like an idiot for bringing up the topic, but I felt like a burden was taken off of me and I smiled widely. “Oh okay. Sorry for the misunderstanding.” I was so glad she didn’t ask why I was wondering about her liking Jaime. I don’t know what my answer would’ve been.

I took off my hat and ran a hand through my hair. Her eyes landed on my hat. “You know, that’s a really cool hat. I’ve been trying to get one for a while but they were sold out online and they were never really restocked.” She said a bit disappointed. I looked down at my favorite hat then up at her and couldn’t believe what I was about to do. “Do you want it?” I asked offering her the hat. Her eyes widened in surprise. “What? Oh no, I couldn’t. It’s yours.” I smiled. “Don’t worry, I can get another one when I meet up with Jaxin in a few days.” She looked at me surprised. “Are you serious?” I nodded. “Okay then. Thanks!” She took the hat from my hands and wrapped her arms around my neck in a hug. I was surprised but I quickly gathered myself and wrapped my arms around her waist, hugging her back. She felt so good wrapped in my arms. I could smell her hair, it smelled fruity. I squeezed her tightly and took in the moment. It was perfect. She pulled away from me almost too soon. I didn’t want that hug to end, but I pulled away as well. I draped my arm on the couch just above her shoulders. I watched her as she put on my snapback. She looked really cute. “It looks good on you. Really good.” I said smiling. She laughed and thanked me.

We talked until we could see daybreak outside the bus window. We had spent the whole night talking and I was so happy. It had been the best night of my life. “I think I’ve kept you out a little too late.” I said as I looked out the window.