"Should I put green or pink in my hair?" I ask, pulling at the
bottom of my hair.
"Pink, because I want green in my hair."
"Oh, so considerate Sarah. Always thinking of others. When is Phil
going to be here?"
"I don't know. He was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago. Hey
maybe he died."
"No, I doubt it. I haven't sent the Hamster Mafia after him...
Yet."
I had been sitting in this office for the past fifteen minutes, waiting
for my boss. He was supposed to be giving me and Sarah our assignments. I
hope he gets here soon, because Sarah and myself are both growing impatient.
We have short attention spans.
I look at the wall at the end of the room and see all the covers from the
magazine this year. All of them had the AP logo at the top and a different
band. I always love looking at the covers, I'm not sure why though. They
always caught my attention when I was in here.
"If he doesn't get here soon, I am going to send the Hamsters after
him." Sarah says, spinning around in her chair at the long staff table.
I hear a door open at the end of the office, and see Phil, walk in. Phil
was in his forties at least, but you really wouldn't know it. He dressed
like most of the skater kids on the street, and had a youthful look.
"Finally." Sarah and me both say under our breath as he walks
over to us at the end of the table.
"Sorry I'm late girls. Davey was showing me some pictures he had for
me. I needed to check them over before he could send them in to print. Okay,
so you both are going to be on the same assignment again. Sarah on
photography, and Aly on reporting."
Sarah and me both high fived, yessing under our breaths. It was awesome
when we worked together, but it also meant trouble. Especially if we got
bored. Or Sarah got a hold of a lighter.
"So... Who are we going with Phil? You know I wouldn't mind going
with-"
"Yeah, I know, you want to go with The Used Sarah. Isn't going to
happen." Phil says, cutting her off.
"You're mean Phil. I won't rape Bert unless it is consensual, and
then it isn't rape."
"Sarah, you are messed up. Now let him fucking tell us who we are
touring with." I say, turning my attention back to Phil. "Now
please Phil, continue." "Thank you Aly. Now before I was so
rudely interrupted by Sarah's uncontrollable lust, I was going to tell you,
you're going with Fall Out Boy this time." Sarah and me both jump up
from our seats and do happy dances. Fall Out Boy is sexy. Enough said. "Yeah,
so you'll be going on Warped Tour with them, You are leaving the day after
tomorrow, so I suggest you take the rest of the day, and tomorrow to get
your shit together." Phil walks out of the room, leaving us to finish
our happy dance. "Sarah, this is fucking awesome." I say as we
walk back to our office to get our stuff. We run in and grab our
purses and stuff, before walking back out and making our way outside. I love
New York. It is most definitely one of my favorite cities I have ever been
to. It's only drawback? How close I am to New Jersey. We get to
our building, and go up to the apartment we shared and looked around. "Do
you really want to pack right now?" Sarah asks, looking over at me
skeptically. "Hell no. It's only noon, let's go out for a little bit.
Let's go get those colors in our hair before we have to leave." We
walk out and make our way to the place we usually went to when we decided we
wanted a new random color in our hair. As we were sat down at our chairs, I
suddenly remembered something about our next assignment. "Holy
fucking flying monkeys Sarah. Do you know who else is on Warped Tour?" "Relient
K? Um, let's see... The Offspring, All American Rejects-" "Shut
up, not what I am talking about. My Chemical Romance is headlining this
year. Fuck, I am screwed." Sarah gives me a look of sympathy, biting
her lip, trying to think of a solution. "You could avoid them." "For
three months? I am good at avoiding people I don't want to see, but come on,
I'm not that good." "but do you really not want to see them, or
are you afraid of them seeing you?" Why did Sarah have to be so smart
sometimes. "I think you're right. I am terrified I am going to get my
ass kicked. He may not look like it, but Mikey can hold a grunge. And Gerard
just scares me sometimes." "Are you sure it is those two? I
think it is Frank you should be more concerned about." "No shit.
I am terrified of seeing him too. God, I am so fucking screwed. Can the
hamsters kill me?" "Nope, sorry love, but you are shit out of
luck on that one. Well, a little good news. Simple Plan is doing a couple of
shows this year, so maybe we can hang with them. They always know how to
make you laugh your ass off." "Yeah I guess." I say, not
thinking that that is quite what I need. Simple Plan was another band we
had toured with. Sarah and me usually got put together on assignments, and
had gone with some pretty awesome bands. Simple Plan and Green Day were by
far our favorites so far. "So, do you think you could hook me up with
Bert?" Sarah asks randomly. "No way Sarah. I haven't talked to
him since I left New Jersey. I haven't talked to any of them. I am so
fucking screwed. Karma is a bitch." "Maybe things will turn out
okay. Maybe it won't be as bad as you think if they do see you. I am sure if
you guys tried, you could work it out, if only a little." I sigh and
think about it. She's right. I can't avoid them all summer, so I should at
least try seeing them once. I can only hope I don't die this summer.
"Okay, so what the fuck do we need to take for Warped Tour?"
Sarah asks from inside her walk in closet, where she is laying on the floor,
looking up at the clothes hanging up.
"Like I know. T shirts and jeans and sneakers. Nothing much else I
can think of." I say, standing in the doorway of her closet. It was
nine in the morning, and we were just starting our packing. We had to meet
the guys at five in the morning. What a drag.
"Oh, I've got to take my awesome sunglasses too." Sarah says,
pulling a pair of sunglasses off a shelf in her closet and putting them on.
"Yes, must take the kick ass glasses. I'm going to go attempt to
start my packing, okay?"
"Yeah, okay, and leave me here to fend for myself. I see how it
is."
"Shut up. I am going to be in the next room, don't flip." I am
about to walk out of the room, before running over next to her bed and
grabbing her lighter off her nightstand.
"And no lighters for little pyro girl. I don't think Pat and Pete
will be happy with you if you set their bus on fire. And if Pete and Pat are
unhappy, it means no make out sessions for Sarah and Aly to watch."
Sarah rolls her eyes at me before going back to staring at her wardrobe,
trying to find what to take.
I walk into my room, and go into my equally large closet, looking at my
clothes. I go to way too many concerts, because about half my t-shirts and
hoodies were concert ones. I grab a couple of duffle bags, and begin
stuffing clothes into them. Mostly bottoms in on, and tops in the other.
Helps me keep them in track. I sigh, and plop myself on to the floor. No
matter how much fun touring was, I hated packing. It was never fun. I hear
the doorbell ring, and take that as my chance to escape. I run to the door,
before Sarah, who was in her room with music blaring, could hear it. I
open the door, and smile to see Davey standing at the other side. "Hello
Davey." I say letting him in. "Hello my love. Did you get your
assignment?" he asks, leaning against the door after shutting it. "Uh
huh. Sarah and me are with Fall Out Boy. Did you get one?" "Yeah,
I got My Chem." he says, smiling. Davey and Sarah are the only ones who
know about everything. I have known them since college, and I trust them
more than anyone else I know. "Gee, don't look so happy Davey, I
would think you like to torment me." "Oh no, it isn't
that. this just means, since you won't be visiting me on their bus, I will
come get to see you on the Fall Out Boy bus." "Visit me my ass.
You'll be there to check out Pete's ass, and you know it." I say
rolling my eyes at him. Along to being one of my best friends, Davey was
also gay, which I loved. He was the gay man of my dreams. He was like the
Jack to Sarah's and my Karens. Only we didn't get as drunk... Okay, well not
as often. "When did you put the pink in your hair? It is
awesome." Davey says, pulling at a pink streak as we walked into my
room. "Yesterday. Sarah has green tips. I am loving your blue hair
though." Davey changed his color about as often as he changed
clothes. There was literally a time in college where he had four different
hair colors in one month. and none of them come naturally in nature. "I
know. I am a sexy beast, admit it." he says, sitting on the floor next
to me, as I finish putting clothes into my bags. Just because I hate
packing, doesn't mean I'm not fast at it. "Yes you are Davey.
And I love you for it. Dude I am starving." I say, laying down and groaning.
"I want chinese food." "Chinese food at ten in the
morning? I like how you think." I laugh and get up from the floor,
and hold out my hand to Davey to help him up. We both walk into Sarah's
room, where the music is playing so loud, I can barely tell who it is
without standing still for a second and listening. The Used. "Sarah,
I am going to get food!" I yell into her closet where she is head
banging and jumping around. She doesn't hear me. Of course. I go
over and turn off the music, which catches her attention. "What the
fuck?! Why the hell did you turn off my music? couldn't you see me
moshing?" "Sarah. I am getting food. I will be back in about
half an hour. Can you please pleas please dig my Chucks out from the back of
my closet. They are in one of those boxes, but if you want to eat today, I
need one of you to find them." Sarah agrees to finding my shoes, at
the promise that I get her food, and I grab my wallet and my phone, walking
out the door. I love walking through the city. It usually clears my mind,
being with all the people. But now, being so close to Warped, where there
was a very high chance that I will see them and get my ass kicked by my
cousins. I go into the restaurant and make my order, still zoning out a
little. I hadn't noticed the man behind the counter talking to me until he
started waving his hand in front of my face. "Huh? Oh, I'm sorry,
what was it you were saying?" "What is your name?" "Oh,
I'm sorry. Alyssa Matthews." Yeah, another thing about when I disowned
my dad? I disowned his name too. Matthews was my mom's maiden name, so I
changed it when I turned 18. After about ten minutes, the food is ready,
and I make the short walk back to the apartment. When I get to the door, I
hear a new CD playing in my room, and Sarah and Davey talking. I set the
food down in the kitchen before going back to my room, to see them both
sitting in my closet, looking through pictures. And what is on Davey's head? Holy
Shit. I thought I hid that box. "What are you two doing?"
I ask, startling them both. "Looks like someone has a dirty little
secret hidden in their closet." Davey says. "Shut up. How did
you get that box? I asked you to find shoes." I grab the hat off
of Davey's head and throw it back into the box. "What is this stuff?
Is it like a memory box or something?" Sarah asks, setting down the
pictures she had been holding. How do I explain this? "Yeah, kind
of. It's just stuff from before I left." I say, putting the rest of the
stuff back in the box and putting it back on it's shelf. "So why were
Frank's clothes in there. I know they're his. He was wearing them in the
pictures." Sarah says, looking a little confused. "Because I
stole them from him at homecoming. It's just a bunch of old pictures and
crap. Did you find the shoes?" I was desperately trying to change the
topic now. "Yeah, they are in the bag with your jeans and underwear
and shit. Do you need anything else?" Davey says, pointing the question
at both of us. Both of us shake our heads no, and we all go out to eat. "So
how are we going to avoid them in the morning when we are all getting picked
up at the same place?" I ask, swallowing a mouthful of food. "I'm
getting picked up and hour later than you." Davey says. "I guess
there are two pickup sets or something. There are only like, four bands with
people going with them I guess." I nod, and spend the rest of the
time listening to the two of them talk about Bert's ass. Sarah and Davey
like similar men. "Guys, lets go get pierced or something." I
say, breaking out of my trance. "Oh, I want a tattoo." Davey
says smiling. "You always want a tattoo Davey." I say,
grabbing my wallet, and walking out the door with the two of them. "Well
what about you? Are you going to get a tattoo for Fall Out Boy when Warped
is over?" I had gotten a tattoo for all the bands I had become
friends with. It wasn't a tattoo of the band's name or something, but they
had always picked it out, so it was dedicated to them. "I don't know.
Probably. No point in breaking tradition." I say shrugging. "So
what are you getting tonight?" Sarah asks as we walk. "I
want to get my lip pierced." I say, finally deciding to do it. I had
wanted one for awhile, so why not? "Whoo hoo! You go girl. It's about
damn time." Sarah says, causing her to get stares from an elderly
couple walking past us on the street. We go into the tattoo parlor, where
one guy takes Davey into a back room, and another takes Sarah and me to get
our piercings. Sarah was getting her lip pierced too, and had decided to go
first. Once she was done, I sat down on the seat she was just on, and
within a few minutes, my lip was pierced, and slightly swollen. It hadn't
hurt as much as I thought it would have. We went into the room where Davey
looked unusually calm getting his tattoo. "So Davey, what're
you getting?" Sarah asks, sitting down next to him. "A ring of
music notes going around my wrist." I looked at where the tattoo artist
was working at on Davey's wrist, and saw it was the line f music notes, with
a red guitar it the middle. "Awesome Davey. I'm liking it." I
say, sitting down on Sarah. "Hey, get off." she says, wiggling
under my weight. "You're kind of comfy." I say, getting off of
her and sitting in the other chair next to her. We wait for Davey to get
finished, before going home, and looking around again. "We're going
to be gone for three months. You going to miss it?" I ask. "Hell
yeah. I will miss my bed. No matter how much I like touring, I will never
like those bus beds. What do you want to do? It is only two." "I
don't know. Let's go skate or something for a little bit, and then come back
and watch a movie. I just want to chill out tonight." She agrees, and
we head out to the skate park with our boards, and spend our day acting like
kids. We got home later, and watched sappy chick flicks, that we laughed our
asses off at the whole time, and went to bed semi-early, so we could get up
at the butt-crack of dawn.
I wake up the next morning with mixed emotions. Ecstatic that we
are touring with Fall Out Boy, yet slightly sick at the thought of seeing
anyone I used to know. The worse part is though, that the more I think
about it, the more I know I really want t see them. This is going to
be one hell of a summer. I go wake up Sarah, which takes much convincing,
and promising I will make her a poptart, and let her borrow my eyeliner. I
get dressed, and then go sit in the living room, where our bags are sitting
on the floor. A taxi is supposed to be here at four thirty to take
us to meet the bus, and it is four right now. Sarah shuffles out of the bathroom,
with one shoe on and unlaced, and the other one in her hand. I hand her her
poptart, and continue staring at the wall. Ten minutes before the taxi was
supposed to get there, I grab my vans, and slide them on, grabbing my bags,
and hand Sarah hers, before heading downstairs to wait. When the Taxi gets
there, we both get in, and ride to where we were meeting the bus. As we
were getting out of the taxi, the bus was just pulling up. "Ready?"
Sarah asks, still looking slightly out of it. "As ready as I'll ever
be."
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