Goodbye Blues

When the skeptical nurse finally left Joy in her bed for her nap, Joy let out a loud, sickening cough. She closed her eyes and put a hand to her chest, trying to ignore the pain in her throat. It was just a cough, she thought to herself. A hideous, undying cough that sent shocks of pain throughout her body.

Joy rolled over in her bed as her mind drifted off. She tried to think of anything but her cough, her mind quickly redirecting to story time and the sad look in Delilah's eyes every time Joy stopped the story to cough. A bad feeling tickled Joy in her gut, but she ignored it and thought about the rest of the story just in the nick of time.

_______________________

As Joy hugged herself against the cold winds, she walked back towards the tent with coffee and snacks. Her mind was clouded with thoughts of the handsome boy in the hallway. His brilliant brown eyes and full lips seemed to captivate Joy - but not anywhere as harshly as his voice. The depth in it and the way Joy felt like she'd be able to hear it miles away made her smile as she thought about their brief conversation.

Just as Joy began filling another paper cup with coffee, Greta waltzed up behind her, a smile on her face. "Hey, where'd you go off to?"

"Eh, just around. I went into the building but it wasn't much," Joy said nonchalantly. She decided she didn't want to tell Greta about the boy she had encountered until she knew his name or else Greta would keep pestering her about it.

Greta shrugged just as William and Ryan walked up to them. They seemed deep in conversation, completely unaware that the girls were standing there. Greta grabbed Joy's arm and gave it a squeeze as they stopped in front of the snacks and began munching on whatever came in contact with their hands.

"Well, I'm sure it'll be fine, Ryan. He can't be the way he is on tour. That'd just be sick," William said, after eating a few crackers. He began feeling his jacket pockets for something as Ryan replied.

"But you know that's just like him. Sickening. He doesn't care about anyone but himself, and one day, it's all going to come back and bite him in the ass," Ryan groaned. He watched William dig his large hand into his small pocket and fish out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. This surprised Joy - William never struck her as the smoking type.

He offered one to Ryan who gladly accepted and let William light the cigarette once it was in his mouth. They stood there for a moment, just taking in drags, before William said, "Then you know what you should do, Ross? Just let it come back and bite him in the ass. Let him pay for what he's doing. He can't ride his high horse for the rest of his life."

"True that," Ryan said before taking in another drag. It wasn't until they both had stomped out their cigarettes and turned around that they noticed the two girls staring at them. "Oh, hey, Greta. Joy."

"Didn't see you there," William grumbled, running a hand through his hair. Joy looked at Greta who stood there smiling. She didn't seem at all taken back by the fact that Ryan smoked, which shocked Joy. Greta had always been against smoking. As a matter of fact, every time Joy smoked anywhere around her, she bitched and moaned until the cigarette had died out.

"It's fine," She said, her arm still locked tight on Joy's. Joy turned to the boys and copied Greta's actions, smiling herself. But suddenly she felt in desperate need of a cigarette. Her last one was yesterday, before packing. Joy hadn't thought about it until she was forced to, and her headache seemed to grow more and more noticeable as she did.

But her cigarettes were in her carry-on, in the bus, and the tight grasp that Greta had on her told her that she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. In hopes it'd help, Joy took a big sip of her coffee as everyone else resumed the conversation.

"So are you guys adapting well to the venue?" Ryan asked. His hand awkwardly roamed the table for something to eat. Once they had landed on a little bag of fruit snacks, he took it happily and opened it, before popping one into his mouth.

"Oh, yeah. The place is great," Greta said, the smiling never leaving her face. Ryan looked at Joy for her reply. She thought for a moment then shrugged.

"I guess it's alright. Not much to do," She said, shrugging a little again. William and Ryan chuckled, and Joy felt a little naive, standing in front of two musicians as she kind of ragged on a place that seemed like their second home.

"Yeah, there's never much to do at venues. That's why most musicians make youtube videos," William said, shoving his hands in his pockets. Greta and Joy laughed at this, making William smile.

"You two are welcome to roam the other band's buses. I'm sure the other musicians are dying to see the two girls that will be with us this whole tour," Ryan offered, finishing up his fruit snacks quickly and then throwing away the bag. Greta and Joy exchanged glances.

"I guess we'll do just that," Greta said. She tugged on Joy's arm, probably feeling as unwelcome as she did. They stepped into a random bus, and Joy glanced back to see they both conversing in hushed whispers.

"I wonder what they were talking about," Joy whispered to Greta as they entered a living room filled a few boys drinking beer. The boys looked at the girls with quizzical looks on their faces, and Joy guessed that they were wondering if Greta and her were crazed fans.

"Hi, I'm Greta from The Hush Sound and this is my friend, Joy," Greta quickly introduced themselves. All the boys faces lightened up, smiles brightening their eyes. Joy noticed that all of them were cute in their own way and she felt as gross as she did in the hallway with the good-looking boy.

"Mike from The Academy Is...," A boy with bright green eyes and dark hair said, raising his beer bottle then putting it to his lips.

"Adam T. Siska from The Academy Is... but you can call me Sisky," A boy with short, light brown hair said. He had light brown eyes to match, and a can of diet coke in his hand.

"Spencer Smith from Panic at the Disco," A boy with dark red hair and hazel eyes said. He was sitting on the floor, though there was room on one of the couches, with a water bottle in his hand.

"Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy," A boy with bright orange hair and green eyes said. He didn't have any beverage in his hand, so he waved a little.

"It's nice to meet you all," Joy said awkwardly, looking upon the boys. They all smiled or lifted their beverages a little higher in a polite way.

"Who's bus are we on?" Greta suddenly asked. All the boys broke out into laughter, as if it was supposed to be obvious. Joy took in their laughter, noting that Mike scrunched up his nose when he laughed, Sisky didn't enjoy showing his teeth, Spencer looked care-free, and Patrick's laugh was very deep.

"TAI's," Sisky said. Greta nodded but it took Joy some time to finally understand what he meant. Mike took to noticing this and laughed a little.

"The Academy Is...'s," Mike said. Joy let her mouth fall into an 'o' shape as the guys began laughing at her. She smiled and blushed a little.

"Kay, so I'm gonna go before I make a bigger fool out of myself," Joy blushed, before dashing out of the bus without Greta. She paused outside to see if her friend was coming out, but after waiting a few minutes, soon realized that she wasn't.

Joy was left to wander on her own. She wasn't sure if she should take this time to wander the other buses or smoke her cigarette without her best friend whining about secondhand smoke.

She sighed and decided she wanted to explore the other buses without having her best friend holding her hand throughout the whole tour experience. Joy's feet began moving beneath her and lead her to the bus behind TAI's. As she crept up the steps, she heard laughter, and wanted desperately to go back and have Greta's arm wrapped in hers, but finally moved forward into the living room of the bus.

Joy was greeted by the sight of several unreasonably cute boys sitting on couches, some playing video games, some lounging on the couches. They all had food or beverages near them or in their hands, all had smiles on their faces except one of the video game players who Joy guessed was loosing.

They all turned - with the exception of the video gamers - and looked at her, and Joy noticed the very handsome guy from the hall. Her heartbeat quickened, as she realized the spotlight was on her. "Hi, I'm Joy. I'm with The Hush Sound."

"Hello, Joy," A boy with an Australian accent said, holding a diet coke in his hand, a nice smile on his face, "I'm Dan Young from This Providence."

"I'm Andy Horst from This Providence," A boy with vibrant blue eyes and lip ring said from beside him. He held drumsticks in one hand, a water bottle in the other.

"I'm Michael Guy Chislett from The Academy Is..." Another boy with an Australian accent said. He was sitting on the floor with an acoustic guitar in his hands.

"I'm David Blaise from This Providence," A boy with big blue eyes who looked too young to be hanging out with these guys said. He was sitting back on the couch with a diet coke in his hands.

One of the video gamers piped up from next to Joy, "I'm Jon Walker from Panic at the Disco."
The other one said, "I'm Joe Trohman from Fall Out Boy."

Joy looked upon everyone in the room just as the handsome boy greeted himself.

He leaned against the wall, behind everyone else, a smug look on his face. His arms were crossed in front of him, showing off a piano key tattoo that Joy hadn't noticed before.

"And I am Brendon Urie, lead singer of Panic at the Disco."

And suddenly, Joy tripped on the game controller wire she hadn't noticed before.