Five Foot Six Inches of Trouble

Chapter 10

A girl turned to me and told me how the mystery girl had to be her and blah blah blah. If only she knew what type of "bugging" he was talking about. The concert was amazing, as always. We didn't need backstage passes anymore. We were apart of the band. Jillian was already backstage with Joe. I didn't see Dirty around.

"Out with his girlfriend?" I asked.

Joe nodded. Pete walked up to me with his arms out.

"Huh?" He said with grin. "Pretty good eh?"

I rolled my eyes. "You couldn't think of anything else than 'bugging me'?"

He laughed again. "I thought it was pretty good."

"So did I!" Tonia added with a giggle.

Patrick snuck up behind her and put his arm around her neck. "Gimme hugs and no one gets hurt!" He said.

"Oh no! I don't want to get hurt!" Tonia said dramatically as she turned around and hugged him.

I rolled my eyes again. "You guys are dramatic."

"Is that a bad thing?" Patrick asked with a pout.

I shoved him playfully. "Sometimes yes!"

We made our way to the bus, which was a little more comfortable than hanging out backstage. We all sat on the bunks like last time.

"Did you like the show?" Pete asked me.

"Of course I did. Do you even have to ask? I wish you didn't spin as fast though. I'm afraid you're gonna fall of the stage or something and break your ankle like you did when you jumped off that amp back in 2007."

He laughed. "I can't believe you would remember that."

"How could I forget? It was horrible!" He laughed again.

"It was stupid."

"I told you not to do it," Patrick said. "But did you listen? No. Why listen to Patrick?"

We laughed together like we had been friends for years. It was great, until paparazzi burst into the bus and started taking pictures. Then it wasn't so great anymore.

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Pete pushed me back into the bunk and pulled the curtain in front of me so the paparazzi wouldn't see me. Tonia rolled into her bunk when she saw what I was doing.

"How the hell did you get in here?" They didnt answer him. I heard flashes at least thirty times.

"GET OUT!!!" Pete and Patrick yelled.

I could see their feet running towards the camera men. I think Pete shoved one of them down the bus stairs. They got out quickly. I opened the curtain slowly. Sweat was beaded on their foreheads. Pete's face relaxed a little bit.

I saw Tonia's head peek out from the curtain. "Clear?"

They nodded. Jillian jumped from the bunk above me.

"I think they got a picture of me." She said with a glum look on her face.

Joe jumped down after her. "It's ok. It's not like I'm hiding you or anything." She smiled.

"It's a giant game of keep away." Tonia said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Where to now?" I asked.

"Next stop on our tour is memphis."

That was a long way from DC. We were going to go the next morning. I don't think I would miss DC.

A man in a suit walked in, Hemmingway in his arms. "Your dog, Mr. Wentz." He said in a weird voice.

"Thanks." Pete said with a nod. The man bowed a little and walked away. This time Pete was the one rolling his eyes.

"Concert staff." He said with a snort.

Patrick nodded in agreement. "The people they hire."

The three of us girls exchanged confused glances while the guys laughed. I yawned. We had been up at 4:30 this morning to drive to DC on time.

"You guys should get to sleep. You look horrible."

"Thanks!" We all said sarcastically.

We all got ready and I curled up in one of the bunks. Pete, Patrick, and Joe were still in their clothes. I raised an eyebrow at them.

"We're going out to meet Andy and Dirty. We should be back in a while." Pete leaned down and kissed my forehead.

"Night! Don't get too drunk."

He laughed and said "I won't."

As they left I yelled "Try not to pick any fights!" I don't think he heard me.

I stayed up a little longer thinking. I looked over at the clock which read 1:30. I put my headphones in and immediately fell asleep to Golden. I slept at least thirty minutes until I got a call from the hospital. That couldn't be a good sign.

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"...Hello?" I said groggily.

"Cricket?! Cricket can you hear me?!?" I heard Patrick say frantically.

I groaned. "Yes I can hear you, what happened?"

He was breathing frantically. "It's Pete. He had an..." He paused "Accident. You need to get over here fast. And bring Tonia."

"What happened?!"

"No time for explaining just get over here!" He hung up.

I bolted out of the bunk and flung on some clothes and flip flops. "TONIA GET THE HELL UP RIGHT NOW PETE IS IN THE HOSPITAL!" I screamed.

She bolted upright. "Is Patrick ok?!?!"

"He's fine let's go!"

She put on jeans and threw on some uggs. We both ran out the door of the bus and scanned the parking lot. There was a crew member's car with a driver snoozing in the front seat.

I banged on the window and screamed, "We need to get to the hospital!!!"

He jerked awake. I flung open the door and jumped in, pulling Tonia in after me. "Hurry!" The driver stepped on the gas and drove as fast as he could. When we got to the E.R I burst out of the car with Tonia's arm in grasp and sprinted to the door.

We saw Patrick in the lobby. "Tonia!"

She ran to him and gave him a hug.

"I'm ok." He said.

"Where the hell is Pete? Tell me he's ok."

A glum expression crossed his face. He turned around and led us to a room. My hand flew to my mouth. Inside was Pete, unconcious with a cast on his arm and a bloody bandage around his head. Nothing could've prepared me for that.