Sister, I'm Not Much a Poet but a Criminal

The day of the first concert of the tour dawned bright. Of course, I'm not usually up to see the dawn, but I was too cheery to sleep in. We had made it all the way to the west coast very quickly, and I was almost sad to see it come. It was a dumb reaction, though, because I still had the entire tour to spend with the band.

Frank was also up early, but that wasn't a shock. So far I'd been woken up every morning by him greeting me with coffee. I enjoyed the time we spent together before the others woke up. During the day, there was no time or space for anyone to be alone, so mornings with Frank were a nice break.

"Excited?" I asked as he sat beside me on the couch.

"More than I can even say."

"You'll do great. You always do."

"Thanks," he smiled softly, and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. His touch gave me chills, but not in a bad way.

We remained silent for a long moment, but it wasn't awkward at all. It was peaceful.

"Hey, Molls," Ariella bounded into the room cheerfully.

I shot her a piercing glare. "Molly."

"Sorry," she shrugged. "I always forget you don't like that."

"Is that so, Ari?"

She returned the evil stare. "You know I hate it when you call me that."

"Then don't call me Molls."

"Fine."

From that time on, there was no silence on the bus. Everyone was up and in high spirits, and all talk was surrounding the upcoming concert.

The bus pulled up to the arena, and the crew began unloading instruments and equipment. Ariella and I settled in for a night alone on the bus, but apparently that wasn't where we were supposed to be.

"You're coming backstage with us," Ray commanded as he led the way.

I walked with Bob, who I hadn't really hung out with much. He was normally quiet, unless he had something to say. In that case, it didn't matter how inappropriate it was, you would hear it. He was twirling his drumsticks between his fingers as he walked.

I sat on a couch in a back room and waited. Once the concert started, I was filled with adrenaline. For me, it was impossible to hear live music and not move around or sing along. Since Ariella was the only person with me, I decided it may have been a stupid idea to jump around and dance backstage. Instead, I hummed along to all the songs.

"Stop that," Ariella glared at me.

I rolled my eyes and lay down on the couch. It was so hard to hear the band and not see them. I was used to being in the crowd.

Once it was over, they guys returned to the room where Ariella and I sat. They were sweaty and exhausted, but beaming nonetheless. Ray bent down to kiss Ariella, who squirmed slightly and pulled back.

"You stink," she complained.

Ray laughed, but Gerard, Frank, and I shared an annoyed look. We were all sick of her already. Thank God I didn't have to spend the summer alone with her.

As we walked back to the bus awhile later, Mikey and I stayed a little ways back from the others.

"Molly, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What's with you and Frank?"

I stopped in my tracks and turned to him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you're always together. When we get up in the morning, you two are up talking. When he goes for a cigarette, so do you, even though you don't smoke."

I looked away, turning slightly red. "That's not entirely true."

"Oh, well that explains that part."

"As for the rest of it... Frank's an early riser, as I'm sure you know. I sleep on the couch, so when he gets up, it wakes me up."

"Oh, okay."

"Why? Does it seem like there's something going on?"

"Not really. I was just wondering, is all."

I suddenly noticed that the others were already on the bus. "We'd better get going."

The two of us headed after the others silently. When we entered the bus, there seemed to be some tension between everyone. Nobody was speaking.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Nothing," Ariella responded, her voice slightly too cheery.

I couldn't shake the feeling that the conversation preceeding my entrance had been about me.