I'm so sorry that this chapter is so short :/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day was a Saturday, which meant a day off for the band and crew. We decided to go to an indoor/outdoor paintball place, which was inside of an old AIRPLANE HANGAR! Needless to say, it was huge. I decided not to play. “Aww, come on, Charlie. Pleaseeee????” pleaded Josh. “Nope. I have bad experiences with paintball.” He groaned but left me alone with my iPod.
“You do realize that he likes you, right?” questioned the only other girl on the tour, Cassadee Pope, as she sat down across from me. “Yeah right.” I scoffed and propped my purple Supra-clad feet up on the lightly worn green picnic table. “It’s true. I can tell by the way he acts around you.” Cass grinned all-knowingly and lightly slapped my feet from the table. “You just wait and see. You’ll figure it out eventually.” With that, she hopped up and ran to join the fight.
“Jack shot me in the neck!” exclaimed Cassadee 2 hours later, running over to me and pulling her hair out of the way. I leaned in and saw a large purple and black bruise blooming right below her ear. “She so deserved it. She’s a bitch.” teased Jack as he strode by. Cass growled and stomped away, her combat boots clomping loudly on the concrete. “And you’re a douche.” I said as I pulled out my Skullcandy earbuds and walked quickly back to the bus.
As I arrived back at the bus I saw John waiting for me outside the doors. “Are you here to irk me about Josh more? Because Cass and Garrett have already done that.” I remarked irritably, stopping and looking up at him. “Actually, I was here to ask if I could have a donut, because I heard a rumor that the ATL bus had Krispy Kremes.” I giggled, glad to know that not everyone was dead-set on us dating. “We do… but you have to earn it.” I told him mischievously, smirking. “What do I have to do?” “Go on stage tomorrow and sing “I’m a Little Teapot.” John groaned, smacking himself in the head. “Okay fine. Can I have my donut now, though?” he asked, his voice hopeful. I nodded, opening the door and grabbing a chocolate glazed donut. “Here you are, sir.” I said, grinning.
“Dudes, dinners READY!” I screamed for the thousandth time into the depths of the bus a couple of hours later. The guys had talked me into making them dinner, though I’m still not sure how that happened. “Okay!” Alex yelled back. I rolled my eyes, grinning in spite of myself. Before the elephants could stampede into the kitchen, I quickly grabbed a grilled cheese sandwich and soup and retreated to my bunk. I grabbed my iPod and put in my earbuds, scrolling down to “Black Cat” by Mayday Parade.
Close up Camera One,
The hero sings in this scene
The boy that gets the girl gets to go home, where they get married
But stop the tape,
The sunset still looks fake to me
The hero looks like he can't breathe,
The damsel just left everything
“So, are you excited?” asked Josh a couple of weeks later as we were sitting in Marianas Trench‘s bus, eating Oreos and watching The Big Bang Theory on Netflix. “Um, yeah! Who doesn’t like shooting off fireworks and annoying the crap out of people?” In case you were wondering, we were quite obviously talking about the Fourth of July, which was tomorrow. The guys of The Maine, Josh, and I had concocted a devious plan to set off firecrackers at midnight, which was in 15 minutes, and somehow Josh had found out about it. So, we had to include him in the festivities. Just then, John came walking over. “We should go grab the firecrackers and lighters.” he told us, grinning. I nodded, glancing at Josh and smiling.
“Three…Two…One… GO!” exclaimed Garrett, lighting the fuse on a long string of firecrackers. Josh, Pat, Kennedy, John, Jared, and I all did the same, running back as they started to spark. We were all out of breath and nearly crying with laughter as the first people appeared: Jack and Matt. “Who the FUCK did this?” yelled Jack, rubbing his eyes and glaring around. At this point, Josh and Garrett were literally holding me down with their hands over my mouth because I was laughing so hard.
Soon enough, everyone was out of the buses and looking pissed off. Zack was the first one to realize that I wasn’t there, and Matt realized that The Maine and Josh were gone as well. “Ohh Charlie!” called Zack in a singsong voice, walking right next to the trailer we were hiding under. Suddenly, Pat stiffened. “If you sneeze,” Kennedy whispered into his ear. “I will personally punch you in the face when this is over.” Pat nodded, furiously scrubbing his nose with the back of his hand. Instead of Pat sneezing, it was John. He gave me a terrified look and looked like he was going to punch himself in the face. “FOUND YOU!” Zack shouted triumphantly, bending over and smiling evilly. “Shit.” cursed Josh under his breath. I was the first to crawl out, followed closely by the rest. “You guys are in for it when we get you guys back.” remarked Alex, grinning and watching us troop back to The Maine’s empty bus.
“Do you all just wanna crash here tonight? That way yo don’t have to face the wrath of your bands yet.” asked John as he came into the lounge, where we were all sitting. I nodded quickly, knowing my brother would give me hell if I went back now. “We only have 5 bunks.” pointed out Jared. “Plus the pull out couch.” Josh and I looked at each other. “I’ll take the floor.” I said, glaring at him when he tried to contradict me. “Sounds good.” said Pat.
Soon, everyone had gone to bed and it was just Josh and I. “I’m going to go change.” I told him, motioning vaguely to the bathroom. He nodded. I quickly got up and locked myself in the bathroom, changing into a pair of Johns Mario pajama pants and my black tank top, which I had been wearing under my shirt. When I stepped back into the living room, Josh had already tucked himself into the couch. “Tired?” I asked him, laying down on the floor next to the couch and looking at him. “Not really, just cold. Are you?” I nodded. “Well then I won’t bother you. Night.” He told me, smiling and cuddling deeper into the blanket.
He’s adorable when he sleeps. I found myself thinking a couple of minutes later. He slept with his mouth slightly open, snoring quietly and occasionally muttering (mostly) indecipherable words. I had caught one, right after I had heard his steady breathing. He had whispered “Charlie”. And no, I was not creeping on him and listening. I just happened to catch it.
The next day, no one would talk to us. We pretty much just laughed and didn’t care, seeing as we had such a good time pulling the prank. “Who’s driving to fireworks?” I asked. In about half an hour there was a fireworks show at the college down the road from where we had spent the night, and we were going to watch. “I will.” volunteered Jared.
When we arrived at the fireworks 20 minutes later, Pat and I were the first ones to leap out of the van and mad-dash to get a spot on the hill. I shoved him out of the way to grab the best spot, right in the center of the hill. “Ha!” I spat at him victoriously, grinning when he stuck his tongue out and stepped on my toes in retaliation. “Thank you for saving my spot.” remarked Rian as he kicked my side lightly. I just laughed, shoving him over and nearly sending him down the hill. I giggled, looking around at the people that I called my friends and thanking god that I had them.
An hour later, I was packing up the quilt that I had been sitting on, plus all of the other things we had brought, since the guys always seemed to disappear whenever there was work of any kind to be done. “Stupid boys,” I muttered to myself. “All the muscle, and never here when you need them.” I grinned. I didn’t really mind all that much, except after concerts when they left me to clean the stage. “Hey Charlie. Almost done?” Josh yelled to me from across the field. I shook my head at him, and he disappeared like he had an invisibility cloak. (YAY HP REFERENCES!) “Just KIDDING!” I yelled, grinning and shaking my head. Exactly.
“Thanks for helping, guys.” I told them when I got back up to the van. “No problem.” Alex replied, patting my back and almost making me drop the chairs. I scowled at him as I dropped the chairs on his feet. “You put them away then.” I turned on my heel with a sigh, shaking my head at the ungratefulness of the guys.
