We all have our masks [Twenty One Pilots]

Chapter Seven: Challenge Accepted

It was almost silent. Almost. The constant noise of the tires against the asphalt was putting everyone in a daze, but Lena was fighting sleep. Tyler and Josh had given up. The former was in his usual seat, beside the driver, his head resting against the window, while the latter was comfortably lying on the old mattress in the back of the van, right near Lena.

The only person still awake was Mark, of course, since he was kinda forced to drive. He had been behind the wheel for a few hours already, and Lena would have offered to take his place if she was sure she was actually authorized to drive in the United States with a French license. So instead, she kept watching at the scenery that was unwinding before her eyes. 

If her life in France had brought her something good, it was probably her love for travel. For her first fourteen years of existence, she had been satisfied with Poughkeepsie and New-York City, but she had never travelled, even in the nearby states. But when she landed in France, she suddenly realized the heterogenous beauty of this world. She had her fair share of bad actions and stupid decisions back then, of course, but if there was one thing she didn't take for granted, it was nature. 

In a second of consciousness, Lena took her bag and started rummaging through it, searching for her phone. Last night, when she couldn't sleep, she had looked up Josh and Tyler's band, twenty one pilots, and downloaded what seemed to be their first two albums. But she was so exhausted by the conversation she just had with her ex-boyfriend that she couldn't bring herself to actually listen to them. But now that she had nothing to do, and they still had a few hours drive to get to Pittsburgh, she figured now was the right time. Especially when she could watch such a beautiful scenery while doing so.

She pressed play, and a song called "Implicit Demand for Proof" started playing. It was smooth, and somehow fit well with the landscape. The intro was a nice and calm piano melody that quickly turned into... someone calling her name? 

"Lena?" Mark waved at her from the driver's seat, trying to catch her attention. She was so caught up in the song that she had barely acknowledged him. Confused, her cheeks a little more red, she removed the headphones from her ears, glancing at Mark.

"Please talk to me, I'm dozing off here" he begged. His eyes were all puffy and tired, and Lena couldn't help but smile. He must be a really good friend to Tyler and Josh, for agreeing to drive for so long while the two artists were taking their beauty sleep.

Lena got up from her half-lying, half-sitting position to get closer to Mark, careful not to wake Josh up in the way. 

"What should we talk about, chauffeur?" she asked, teasing him a little. He chuckled, and took the same tone.

"Let's talk about you, m'lady, if you please" he replied with a smile, tipping his imaginary chauffeur hat. Then, as Lena didn't really know what to say, he added "How did you get here?"

"What is that for a question? I got here by plane, you dummy!" Lena joked. In response, Mark rolled his eyes, half-amused, half-annoyed, waiting for the real answer.

That was a hard question, and there was a lot to tell about her - things she didn't necessarily want to reveal to someone she didn't know that well, especially someone who had not made any previous judgments or assumptions on her, for once. She didn't want to linger on her dark moments, but she didn't want to let Mark down either. So, she went for the short story, like she was used to tell it to strangers.

"Well... Long story short: I moved to France when I was fourteen because my dad had met someone from there and decided to get married, without so much as a single thought for his teenage daughter. He had a kid with her, then suddenly and unexpectedly died, leaving me alone with my cruel stepmother and half-brother, transforming me in a bad but modern version of Cinderella. I did some shit, fucked up a lot, and ended up going on tour with my then musician boyfriend by the age of 17. It got better for a while, then I fucked up again and it got worse, so I decided to go back to my roots. Hence me searching for my uncle."

Taking a long breath, she sat back against the van door behind her, watching Mark with a satisfied smile. He looked completely taken aback. Lena always had that effect on people when she told her story, and she honestly didn't dare to think of Mark's reaction if she had told him every other detail. 

"Don't look so dramatic, Mark!" Lena said, leaning over to dishevel his hair.

"Wow" was all he could reply. He obviously didn't expect such a story, and felt kind of uncomfortable for asking her in the first place. He wasn't good enough with words to make her understand his sympathy. "So, you went on tour?" he added, eager to change the subject. "You're a musician, too?"

"Not really." Lena shook her head. "I mean, I can play the piano and the guitar, but I wasn't the artist, if that's what you wanna know..."

Mark nodded, and there was a small silence before Lena continued.

"I was just the guitarist's girlfriend. He just took me with him. Turns out I'm a quick learner and I rapidly became... a backline tech? Is that what you call it?"

Mark's face lit up, and Lena noticed what seemed to be a mocking grin. 

"What? Don't tell me you're the kind of guy who thinks girls can't do that!" she asked, a little bit too agressively.

"No, not at all, relax!" Mark almost yelled, on the defensive. "It's just..." he grinned again, annoying Lena just a little bit more. But she smiled nonetheless. She didn't know Mark very well, but she didn't think he meant any offense. 

"That's just perfect, is all. The guys could need some help, and I knew God had a reason to put you on our path."

Lena raised an eyebrow. Not that the mention of God annoyed her. Even though she was an atheist, she prided herself on her open-mind, and she kinda grasped that the boys were Christian when Josh had explained his tattoo to her the day before. But Lena didn't really get where Mark was going.

"You know, most of the time we have a crew to help, but they had other obligations for this leg of the tour, so it's just been us three for the past few weeks. We could use your help, that's it."

Lena whispered a surprised "Oh". She didn't really expect that, especially since one of the musician wasn't exactly happy with her, with no reason whatsoever. Anyway, she knew that they only had one show left before going home, which could mean only one thing: Mark was contemplating getting her on the next tour. Lena thought it was a great idea ; she honestly didn't expect to find a job so quickly. But then again, she shook her head at her own selfishness. She had other things to think about anyway. Like her uncle Rick. Lena lost her train of thoughts when Tyler, apparently still asleep, moved and moaned a little against the car window. She waited for a few seconds, making sure he was well asleep before speaking again, leaning over Mark, almost whispering.

"But, you know... Tyler doesn't seem to like me. So that might not be the brightest idea right now, chauffeur" she exhaled, trying to brighten her own mood. 

Mark shrugged, and seemed to search for the right words, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Tyler's not a bad guy you know? He just... He has his struggles. Not real struggles, they're all in his head and... No, I mean, of course they're real struggles." said Mark, seemingly talking to himself, facepalming at the same time. "They're just struggles we can't even imagine. And he has phases. One day he's all dark and twisted, grumbling most of the day, and then he snaps and goes back to the cheerful guy that I know he is."

Lena nodded comprehensively. She knew the behaviour. Not because she suffered herself - even though she had some dark times - but because Mark was describing her late father. She was glad Mark told him, because she could understand Tyler better now. Selfishly, she could also feel better herself, because that meant Tyler had nothing against her personally. He was just like that. He couldn't help it. 

"Just leave him some time and act natural. He'll come around" added Mark positively to close the conversation. 

Lena smiled, almost against her will. Ever since she was a kid, she always made it a point to be liked by people. And Tyler was no exception. Challenge accepted.

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Hey readers, 

Thank you if you're still reading this. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

A few revelations on Lena's story in this chapter, what did you think? Did you expect that? Is is believable and realist?

I hope you still like how I picture the boys as well. Let me know, if you feel like it!