We Came Alone but Left Together

After another day of driving (our total being around two full days), we had arrived at the first Warped date, in Pomona, California. The second day had been about the same as the day before; Austin and Kent fooling around and making us laugh, Kyle and I watching a movie, lunch break that involved Sophii and Jonathan getting clooose, and then everybody hanging out with... everybody. When we arrived, the boys let Sophii and I wander off, to meet some people I guess. They had some band business to do (I don’t know what it was), so they wanted to be rid of us for a while, I presume.

It was around 10:00 pm now, and bands were arriving all over the place. “Sophiiiiii, I want to meet the Maine!” I exclaimed, knowing fully well that they’d be here. Yes, I totally did memorize what bands were going to make appearances at this year’s Warped Tour. There is nothing wrong with that.

“Me, too! I want to meet John Ohh,” she replied, standing on her tip-toes and craning her neck around, trying to find the band that we wanted to meet. Instead, she saw Christofer Drew of NeverShoutNever, so we decided to go meet him instead.

“Hey there!” I greeted with a wide smile, once we’d come up to the gingery-blonde haired boy.

“Oh hi,” he said, turning around to face Sophii and I. “Uh, I hope this doesn’t sound rude, but doesn’t the show start tomorrow? How did fans get here?” There was a confused look on his face, at which I had to chuckle.

“We’re with the Sickest Kids, we won a contest,” Sophii explained.

“Cool... Hey are you British?” That seemed to be the only question asked of Sophii; ‘are you British’? It was like that old YouTube (or whatever it was) video; ‘Are you dumb? Are you dumb? Are you dumb?’

“Yes,” Sophii replied, for what must’ve been the 7th time in two days. She’d probably been asked the same question days earlier, too.

“Awesome!” Christofer replied, smiling at us by now. It was probably a relief to him that we weren’t stalker fans. Although, we kind of were, we were just allowed to stalk, thanks to our contest win. “So what are your names?”

“I’m Alyssa and my wife’s name is Sophii,” I introduced, giving her a side hug. When Chris looked at us oddly, I just laughed before explaining we weren’t really married, it was just a joke.

We hung out with him for a little while longer, getting only a few pictures each, before bidding him adieu and going off in search of other band members. We had to mingle, right? By the end of the night, the two of us had met and hung out with Nick Santino, Max Green and Craig Mabbitt (the other two members of Escape the Fate were off somewhere else, sadly), Evan Lester, all of the Maine (we finally found them!), and all of This Providence (I practically plotzed when I met David Blaise).

Finally, I got a text from Austin, telling us to come back to the bus to get ready for the first Warped party of the tour. I guess you could call it the “night before the tour kicks off” party. That’s what I called it anyways.

Sophii and I eventually found the bus, after getting lost and asking directions from about a million different people. “Dammit, why do all the buses look the same and lack labels?” I asked loudly once I walked onto the bus. At this point, all of the boys were ready for the party.

“Oh shut it and hurry up,” Caleb replied, rolling his eyes and smiling goofily. At his command I huffed, but went over to where my bag was and picked an outfit out. Just a pair of simple black super skinny jeans (torn at the knees), Vans slip-ons that slightly resembled ballet flats with a pair of bright blue socks, and a matching bright blue baby doll top. It was simple and made me look slimmer than I actually was (I’m not terribly fat or anything, but I’m not thin either). With a tiny bit of blue eyeliner on my eyes, I was ready.

Sophii looked wonderful, with one of her dresses on (it looked like it was styled in a vintage way, with lots of different colors) and matching flats. Her makeup was done how it always was, making her beautiful brown eyes look only a slight bit bigger than their actual size. Her lovely hair had been straightened and then mussed around, in a way that would attract tons of guys. They’d have to keep their hands off though, Sophii is my wife.

“We’re ready!” Sophii exclaimed as the two of us walked back to the front lounge where the boys were congregated.

“Already? Wow, I didn’t think girls could take so little time,” Kent said, looking shocked that we’d only taken about 30 minutes. “I’m thinking we should make like sushi and rolllll.”

Laughing, we left the bus and headed towards the area of the parking lot where the party was set up. There were already people getting drunk out of their minds and dancing to the music that was playing. Me, being the good egg I am, had made a vow to not drink until it was legal for me, or at least be in my parents’ control so that I wouldn’t cause any trouble. Everyone else though was either of legal age or they didn’t care, so they were drinking the night away.

After five seconds flat, I was left all alone to fend for myself... Ah well, I could find somebody I already knew and hang around them, if they let me. I walked around for a while, swaying a bit to the music that was playing and eating some chips. At one point, some drunken guy who I couldn’t recognize (maybe a techie, maybe somebody from a band I wasn’t familiar with) started to hit on me, getting a bit too close and all. I just sorta ignored him, until he tried to fucking kiss me. When this happened, I got extremely freaked, slipping off to find somebody I knew.

“David!” I shouted the name of the first person I recognized. I made my way over to him, waving a bit. That guy who’d hit on me had creeped me out a bit and all I wanted was to see a familiar face. “Hey again. Can I hang around you for a while? This guy, he just like... threw himself at me and I’m a bit freaked about that... I don’t really want to be alone.”

“Oh yeah sure that’s fine!” he replied, smiling at me. He didn’t sound intoxicated, which made me feel that much better. Thank God, I did not need to deal with another drunk guy. “Just don’t tell me who it was or I’d feel the need to chew them out for scaring you like that.”

“You’re too sweet,” I said with a laugh. So that was how my night went; I hung around David, who I was sure I’d be good friends with (he was just so nice and he could make me laugh) and ate some more chips. I know, I’m a fat-ass. I’m seriously addicted to those things.

The party ended at some time in the early morning and I was actually tired by then. “Later Lyssie!” David said to me, right when I was about to leave. I said ‘bye’ and gave him a small hug before walking off to find my group. Kyle’s bright blonde hair gave him away; I ended up running after him and jumping on his back.

“What the fuck?!” Kyle shouted, whipping his head around. His speech sounded only a tiny bit slurred, so I could still make out what he said.

“Sorry, I felt the need to do that. Now piggy-back me back to the bus, trusty steed!” I wrapped my arms around his neck and secured my legs around his torso.

“Whatever you say, my little Jewel,” Kyle replied, continuing on with his walk to our bus.

“Why do you guys call me Jewel?” I asked, screwing my eyebrows in confusion. “I’m not a country-pop singer.”

“Yes, but you are our little gem, so that’s why we call you that. Sophii is ‘Precious’, because she is,” Kyle explained, before the two of us fell into a comfortable silence. I rested my chin on one of his shoulders as he continued to carry me back to our bus. “Well we’re here. G’night.”

“Night,” I replied, after being let down. I leaned up a bit and gave him a kiss on the cheek, as a ‘thanks’ for carrying me back.

“Lyssie?” Kyle called after me, while I was about to get on the bus.

“Yeah?”

“Sorry for leaving you all alone at the party, I’m sure you were intimidated. It won’t happen again.”

“Awh it’s alright,” I replied, smiling (although he wouldn’t see in the dark), before walking onto the bus and to my bunk.