Long Rides

“ATHE ATHE ATHE!” I heard Verion screaming my name in the morning. I groaned, not bothering to open my eyes. “Oh please. WAKE THE FUCK UP!” she screamed, slapping my face.

My eyes shot up and slapped back her face. “It hurts,” I said, bringing my hand on my sore cheek.

“Wake up,” she laughed and went out from the van. I followed her suit and realized the tire wasn’t flat anymore.

“Who changed the tire?” I asked, yawning.

“Joey did,” Kyle answered.

“Whoa – you guys really stayed here?”

He nodded. I looked around. There were Kyle, Caleb, Jonathan and a lot more people that I didn’t know. My friends were talking with them. My eyes stopped at a long-ass bus. What the fuck? I didn’t realize there was a bus last night! Wait, maybe it was dark and the bus was black. Yeah.

“Oh, it’s our bus,” Kyle said, noticing that I was staring at the bus with my mouth hung open. “Joe, our bus driver, changed your tire when you were sleeping.”

“Wait a second, you’re in a bus? What for?”

“We’re on tour…?” he said, unsure.

“…Tour?”

“Don’t be a moron, Athe,” Vincent said from behind me. “They’re FTSK.”

“Oh,” I said lightly and Kyle’s face dropped. “Don’t be sad – I love your music but I don’t know the members! Not that kind of fan… sorry.”

His face lightened up. “It’s okay,” he said, giving me a one-arm hug. “Oh – I want you to meet my friends!” he said before grabbing my wrist and leading me to a large group of people. “Guys, this is Atheria. Atheria, they’re Zack, Alex, Jack, and Rian from All Time Low. Marc, Kent, Austin, and you already know Caleb and Jonathan – they’re my band mates.”

“Hey guys,” I said, waving my hand casually. “Atheria.”

“Wicked name,” Jack grinned. “What does it mean?”

“How the fuck should I know?” I said. “And it’s not wicked; it sounds like a town’s name.”

“Still, effin’ wicked,” Rian said.

“Your group has awesome names,” Marc said, shaking his head. “I mean, Vincent, Verion, Arne, and Atheria? AH-SUM.”

Me and my friends just stared at each other, grinning.

“I like Atheria the best though,” Alex smiled, looking down on me. I can tell he was flirting.

“Thanks,” I replied his smile. “We better get going before the freeway cops caught us,” I said to all of the people.

“Do you really want to get away from these guys?” Verion frowned.

“…No?”

“Good, ‘cause I don’t wanna go yet!” she announced and started a random conversation with Austin. After a few sentences she spoke, they both laughed out loud.

I went away from the crowd and sat on the ground. My hand was placed on my sides and I threw back my head as I closed my eyes. The dry grass next to me made sounds and someone sat next to me. I opened my eyes and looked to my right. Alex was smiling at me.

“Why do you smile so much?” I asked.

“Because that’s just the way I am.”

I removed my hands from the ground as I replied his smile.

“So you’re touring with FTSK,” I started and he nodded. “How does it feel like being away from home for months?”

He chuckled. “Like you’re not away from home for months too?”

“We have different conditions. We travel, you tour.”

“You have a point there.”

“I’m smart. I just don’t look like one. I remember when I got an A in Calculus and Vincent’s like, ‘You were cheating!’ And we pretty much argued about it.”

“Whoa – an A?”

I thought for a moment. “Or probably B+.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“You’re a genius! Why aren’t you in school? This isn’t a holiday day… or week.”

I shook my head. “You don’t wanna know.”

“Oh?” He raised his eyebrowssexily.

I giggled a little. “Alright. Well, I dropped out.”

“What?!”

I shrugged. “I like travelling a ton. I think its way more interesting than high school.”

“But you’ll get scholarships. You can go college abroad! Yet you dropped out…”

“How do you know I got a scholarship?”

His eyes bulged wide. “YOU DID?!”

“I guess so…?”

“Choosing travelling instead of scholarship is the stupidest thing ever.”

“No it’s not. You don’t go to college too.”

“At least I graduated high school.”

I pouted and looked down. What more should I say…?

“Anything you have passion for besides travelling?” he changed the topic.

I looked back at him. “Photography. That’s why I travel; I can find so many places to be captured.”

He nodded as his mouth formed an ‘o’. “How about the others? Your friends, I mean.”

“Verion’s into fashion; she travels to see how the people dress in various places. Arne loves music; he travels to find out different types of music in different places. Vincent is really into food” –I laughed –“He travels to taste different foods in different places.”

“He doesn’t seem like a person who’s into food.”

“Yeah. He never forgets to exercise.”

“Athe!” Arne called my name. Alex and I turned attention to him. I raised an eyebrow as a response. “Let’s go! Joey said the high way cops are coming!”

Alex and I stood up. “I guess this is goodbye.”

“I guess so.”

“Bye, stranger,” I giggled. “It’s nice to know you.”

“Same here.”

I turned my heels and went to his other friends.

“Heyy,” Kyle said and pulled me into a hug. “I hate saying goodbye.” He rested his head on my head.

“I know,” I sighed as he let go.

Caleb walked up to me and said, “You’re one of the awesomest people I have ever met.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet of you. Thank you. You’re one of the awesomest people too.”

He smiled. This time was Jonathan’s turn.

“Don’t let them change the tire again,” he laughed.

“Don’t worry – I won’t,” I returned his laugh.

All of us shared goodbye. They went to their bus and me and my friends went to our van, and we separated at the first exit of the high way we saw. Their next show was probably there.

I noticed Verion was busy text messaging for the last half an hour, so I asked her about that.

“Who are you texting with?”

“Kyle.”

“How did you get his number?”

She shrugged. “We switched numbers. I think he’s really cute, so why not?” Her eyes were glued to her sidekick and her fingers were punching various buttons.

I rolled my eyes at her and rested my head on my palm, looking outside the window.