DAMAGED

COURT

I woke up to the cold A/C that had oversaturated the room and my body. I could hear someone moving around but I was reluctant to move my arm, every muscle frozen in pain from the un-bearableness of the cot. I couldn't help it curiosity won out. Holy shit. She was just very casual about changing her clothes in a room full of people. I glanced over to where Casey was sleeping but all I saw was blanket and a hint of beard. For reasons I didn't pause to consider I was glad that he wasn't taking in the view I was. I sighed before I thought the better of it. She stiffened before grabbing her shoes and left. I was grateful that my curiosity had gotten the best of me, a smile I couldn't fight pulling at my lips.

"There is no point man." I jumped at the sound of her voice, small but spirited. I turned to see Harper, a red halo of hair perched at the top of the mattress. "I don't follow." I answered gruffly. I had an idea. I wasn't sure why she thought I had a chance so why would it matter if I looked.

"She likes your kind you know, all moody and without a care. You wear a musical heart on your sleeve with your acoustic in hand. You follow all right; follow her around the room or from the bus to the manager. I see you man." She nodded in my direction, having figured everything out for herself.

"My kind? That's not even a bit insulting." I snorted, there was no malice. I liked her straightforward manner of talking even if the talking points irritated me.

"It's really not. I just think that a six-month tour is a long time to brood over a girl you hook up with in the first couple of months and get left by before it even ends. You're a big boy, it's your choice but she isn't the committing kind. Tell your brother he snores like a goddamn bear that even headphones can't combat." She left the bed in the clothes she fell asleep in, pulling her black duffel bag loose of the pile and following Kat into the blinding sun. I had never been warned away from a girl... by her friend... for my own benefit.

"You can't have sex with her...either one of them." Sleep turned his voice gruff. I glared over at Casey. Unbelievable. How was I getting two lectures before noon?

"I have no intention of sleeping with either of them so fuck off." Now I was irritated. I was being warned away by my brother and warned off for my own good and I hadn't done a damn thing. That girl's presence was trouble even if she had nothing to do with it. I sat up and shook the grogginess and agitation off; it wasn't in my nature to hold on. I just came and played and drifted through everything else. Attachments were meant for people willing to invest and I never am anymore.

"The red head is cute." I raised my eyebrow at him and laughed. He got up and followed the same suit as the others, pulling a t-shirt over his head and leaving the room with boots in hand. I dropped back onto the cot listening to the other three guys start the process of shaking off the long night of driving and half ass sleep. I just didn't want to get up and go outside to be sucked into the vortex of Florida heat. I was from the Northwest, the notion of permanent sunshine made my skin crawl. It was why I had found a house shaded with trees in a seaside town prone to the cold when I had moved to California. I still had trouble trusting a state that wasn't cleansed by the universe more than a few times a year. It was time to get up and move about, my stomach in all out protest against the emptiness. The festival would already be going strong at this point but I wasn't slated on stage until tonight. I needed to find food.

"What do you guys think there is to eat around here?" I tossed my question out into the room as the other guys stirred to usefulness.

"Joe said there was a truck stop half a mile down the road that we can drive to or we can all head into the festival early and eat at the vendors." I smiled at the answer and we all spoke at the same time. "Vendors." A laugh resounded and I pulled on the pants I had discarded next to the cot and yanked on my English ankle boots that Casey had warned me would be miserable in the southern heat. I had ignored him though I knew he was more often than not right. I pulled a white shirt from my bag. I thought about the positives of the heat to distract me from the negativity I was feeling. I thought of it, cutoffs and sundresses. I hurried to the bathroom while the other guys were still pulling on their torn up jeans and lacing up boots that were bound to be far more uncomfortable than mine. My hair was a tangled nest. It was getting long in the front. I would have to cut it or figure out a style that worked with it. I hated all the work that went into looking mess. At home I just threw a slouch beanie over the back of my head and went about my day. I blew through the rest of the morning rituals that guys pretended not to have, one bathroom for all of us was going to be a problem when it came to showers.