Suicide Season

“Jez! Wake up!” Came an urgent and very alert voice from somewhere near Jez’s left ear.

She however mumbled a muffled protest and turned over so her back was facing whoever had just attempted to wake her. The blinds of her bunk had been thrown open casting unwanted brightness into the small area and illuminating the thin figure of Jez who was wrapped up in her duvet and looking altogether at peace.

Matt Kean muttered angrily under his breath, feeling very keenly his misfortune at being the one who had to wake Jez up.

“Jez please get up,” Matt said more urgently, shaking the girl slightly.

Jez attempted to bat him away but to no great avail, she was already partially awake but was still floating in that warm and safe blur between waking and sleeping. She felt at peace, or at least until Matt said the next words.

“The bus has broken down Jez. We’re stuck.”

These words caused Jez to sit up sharply and almost hit her head on the roof of the bunk.

“What?” She asked, praying that what Matt had just said was a joke to get her out of bed. “You’re joking.”

But the sincere and clearly not amused expression that was etched into Matt’s face confirmed the truth and Jez sighed angrily and muttered to herself about the chaos that seemed to follow just Bring Me The Horizon around.

She delicately slipped out of her bunk that was above Oli’s and placed her slightly chilled feet into her snug and warm little fawn coloured UGGs. She reached for her purple Boys Like Girls hoodie and threw this on over her white strap top. Matt had already gotten off the bus to stand with the other boys outside and inspect the damage but Jez, feeling quite at her leisure, strolled into the kitchenette area and selected a green apple form the fruit bowl. Only then did she proceed to open the bus door and walk down the steps to join the rest of the boys.

The minute she stepped outside she regretted not having put on long pyjama pants. She was still wearing the short pyjama bottoms from Jack Wills that had been a present from a girl friend, and the harsh wind that had been blowing outside attacked her brown, but bare, legs immediately.

To top it off Jez realised that they were literally in the middle of nowhere.

“Good morning darling!” Lee said almost mockingly, a dry mile stretched out on his face when he took in Jez’s choice of pyjama. She noticed his gaze and attempted to pull the shorts down a little to at least preserve some of her modesty but the action seemed futile.

“Where the hell are we?” Jez asked distractedly as she tried keeping her long hair under control. The wind was wiping it about around her face causing her vision to be limited.

“Somewhere in the moors,” Curtis said lightly as he stood next to Jez whilst the rest of the boys, including Oli and the members of The Blackout, stood around the bus driver having a heated argument about what could have possibly gone wrong.

“The moors?” Jez asked in slight panic.

Curtis only nodded his head gravely.

“We’re meant to be playing in Manchester tonight and the motorway was busy last night so the bus driver decided to drive country side and now the bus is fucked,” Curtis said unabashedly and in his honest way that left no need for further interrogation.

“So what do we do now?” Jez asked before biting into her crunchy green apple.

“Well we’ve got next to no idea where exactly we are, we have no mobile phone reception and there’s not a single living soul bar us out here, not even a sheep farmer. So I guess were going to have to sit tight for a while, Craig and the bus driver are going to have a look at what the problem could be but don’t get your hopes up,” Curtis concluded just as the Sykes brothers walked towards them.

“Always dressed for the occasion Jez,” Tom said with a pleasant laugh, obvious unperturbed as to the current situation. “I must say those shorts are very fetching.”

Jez playfully slapped him upside the head before turning her attention to Oli, who had a slight scowl on his face. There was talk of having to cancel the Manchester show and this obviously frustrated him. He hated having to cancel gigs, it always felt to him like he was letting the fans down, and goodness knows he was an expert at letting people down.

“Get dressed,” Oli said to Jez shortly in a bossy manner that she hadn’t heard from him before. “We’re going to find some civilisation.”

The way he proclaimed this left no room for arguing, and with his current tone of voice it was not something Jez dared to do. So fifteen minutes later Jez emerged wearing thick grey tights underneath a little black dress and tan coloured boots. She was wrapping a knitted scarf around her neck and struggling with her trench coat at the same time.

Oli, who had gotten changed in a mater of minutes, show Jez an incredulous look.

“We’re walking far I hope you know, I’m not sure if a dress is the best thing to be wearing,’ Oli said with an amused look on his face, on eyebrow cocked.

“Jeans are uncomfortable, they rub. You’ll see soon enough,” Jez said simply, pointing at Oli’s skinny jeans, which had the image of being spray-painted on.

Oli just shrugged nonchalantly and with that the two said their goodbye’s, telling everyone that they’d be back before the late afternoon hopefully with some help. They left the commotion behind them as Gavin and Bob stared loosing their temper with the malfunctioning tour bus, their agitation was easy to understand as their little van was still alive and chipper, but without Bring Me The Horizon there was no show.

Hence there was a little pressure upon Oli and Jez to find some form of civilisation with a connected phone.

Jez and Oli continued down the narrow country road, walking straight ahead in silence, not quite sure where this road was going to lead them.