Book Half Unread

Rian and his friend Pat, who apparently sang for Sing It Loud, took me to the Warped Medic Tent to get me cleaned up. This was embarrassing. It took a few minutes of burning agony before they finally left me alone with an icepack for my lip. I sat there awkwardly, looking up at the two boys, mainly Rian.

I moved the pack from my lip slowly. "What are you doing here?" I asked, fiddling with the pack in my hand. This was really weird.

"Uh, the question is, what are you doing here," he corrected me.

"My friend got a job to follow Bayside around on tour," I said. "I just came with him."

"Well, we're playing," he replied, shaking his head a little. I knew what he meant by we. Damn it, I should have checked the list of bands playing this year.

Not knowing what else to say, I let out a simple, "Oh."

He sighed and offered me a smile and a hand. "Come on, the guys'll want to see you." I took his hand, but let it go before he could drag me off anywhere.

"I don't think I want to see them, Rian."

Pat was probably getting very uncomfortable because finally spoke up, "Uh, I'll see you later man… Sorry about your lip Aimee." He walked off and disappeared into the crowd.

Sighing, I looked up to see a stern looking drummer before myself. "Aimee, you just left without telling us anything. We were worried about you and when you didn't answer our texts and calls… Shit, Jack even commented you on MySpace and left messages on AIM."

"I don't use MySpace anymore and I rarely get on AIM. I don't remember getting anything from him when I signed on," I said simply with a shrug.

"Bullshit. We're not your enemies. I have no idea why you ignored us, but seriously grow up." Rian shook his head at me before backing away and walking off. Sighing I tilted my head back for a moment and rolled my eyes before placing the pack of ice on my mouth again and getting up, walking off in my own direction. My free hand immediately went to my camera, holding it tightly.

"I'm a total idiot," I said lowly to myself, kicking a Monster can that was on the ground.

A hand rested on my shoulder, making me turn around. "I'm sure you're not a total idiot." His smiling face made me feel a little better.

My voice found its way back to me. "Colin? Thank goodness it's you." I sighed, throwing my arms around him in a tight hug. "I totally needed to see your face."

"Speaking of faces, what the hell happened to yours?" he asked as he pulled back slightly. "Damn, that might scar. Did you get anything put on it?"

"Yeah, this lady put some junk on it and said if it even scars it won't be noticeable." I held the icepack up and he took it from me immediately and placed it on my lip. "Colin, you're a worrywart." It came out in a jumbled mess, however. He laughed and kissed my forehead, moving my hair from my face.

He took one of my hands and put it on the pack, removing his own. "Only taking care of you. Anyway, I left London talking with that Jac Vanek chick."

I moved the pack from my mouth. "The Jac Vanek?! She's amazing. I want to meet her, please?" Colin laughed and moved my hand back to my mouth before taking my free hand and leading me off in some direction in the crowd.

We walked up to a tent selling clothing and accessories. A few guys stood behind the table, but four figures were what caught my eye. London had his arm around Jac's shoulders like they'd been best friends since ever. They were talking to two people: one with blonde and blue hair and the other had bright pink. When we got closer I recognized the one with pink hair: Jeffree Star, but I had no idea who the blonde with blue was.

"Hey you two. Guys I want you to meet my best friends. That's Colin Livesay and his girlfriend Aimee McIntyre. They're my roommates too," London said, pointing at us as we came to stand with them. Lowering the icepack, I gave them a shy smile and wave where as Colin went in and shook their hands.

"I'm Jac," she said, giving a nice smile.

"Oh sweetie, your friends are cute," said Jeffree. "I'm Jeffree."

"Cute they are. I'm Daniel Lucas," said the one with blonde and blue hair. "What happened to your lip, sweetie?"

"I was just hit in the mouth, no big deal," I said with a small laugh.

Colin simply smiled at them. "Well nice meeting you guys. So what's up?" I put the pack against my mouth again as I mindlessly listened to their conversation. I was really thinking of how I could avoid the ghosts of my past. The feeling of being shaken brought me back to the present.

"Aimee, are you okay? We're getting some food," Jac said, looking concerned.

I shook my head and smiled. "No, no I'm fine. Um, lead the way." We followed them past security behind the barricades towards a line of people that lead to a huge white canopy tent. All around the place were picnic tables. It had to be about twenty minutes before we were finally able to get plates for food and drinks. I just got some salad, a couple rolls of bread, and water. I followed Jac to an empty table and sat down, waiting for the boys.

"So, how long have you and Colin been going out?" she asked me.

I smiled to myself. "We've been for a while now; about a year, maybe a little over." I picked up my fork when London and Colin sat down.

"London, where's Jeff and Dan?" Jac asked, drinking some of whatever was in her cup.

"They said something about Diva," he said with a simple shrug.

"Hey Jac, do you mind if we join you and your new buddies?" I looked to my right and saw smiling faces. Kent, Kyle, and Caleb of Forever the Sickest Kids and John and Garrett from The Maine stood there, wanting to sit down.

"I don't care. You guys?" Jac asked, looking to us. I smiled and shook my head no, scooting closer to Colin, signaling I didn't care.

"Sweet," John said, taking a seat beside me, Kent on his other side. Jac scooted over and Garrett sat across from me, next to her, then Caleb and Kyle on the end. "Hey, I met you earlier right?"

I turned and looked to John. "Oh yeah, back in the parking lot."

"What was your name again?" Garrett asked me.

"Oh, Aimee; this is my boyfriend Colin and that's our roommate London." I smiled at him, putting some salad on my fork.

"Ah man, I knew she was taken. Why'd I change sides?" Kent sighed, taking a bill from his pocket and handing it over to Kyle.

"I told you not to change your mind," Caleb spoke up, a grin on his face.

Somehow I think that Warped 2009 wasn't going to be as bad as I thought it was. Thoughts of Rian and the ghosts of my past drifted from me as I spent the day with these boys and Jac, all of whom I grew to love instantly.