Beneath the Surface
02
I was awoken by the phone ring. I rolled over, and grabbed the phone off of my bed-side table.
‘’Hello?’’ I groaned, feeling incredibly groggy.
‘’Good morning sunshine!’’ It was Jared. Obviously he had forgotten about our little disagreement yesterday; he sounded rather chirpy.
‘’Uh, hey man. How are you?’’
‘’Pretty amazing! Guess what just happened?’’
‘’You finally realized you like penis. I don’t know, what? This better be good, you woke me up…’’ I grumbled.
‘’Well, I don’t know if ‘Sex On Fire’ reaching the top of the charts is good enough for you… Nah, doubt it is. Get back to sleep,’’ Jared retorted. And with that, he hung up.
I instantly sat up, a grin appearing on my face. Was he joking? It had taken our band so long to get into the mainstream music scene, and now we’re number one?! Fuck, our record had only been out for one week!
I picked up the phone, and called Jared back.
‘’You cheeky bastard!’’ I yelled. ‘’That’s great news!’’
‘’Yeah, and the record label wants us to do a world tour soon!’’ He explained.
‘’… A-a-are you serious? Did they ask you guys, or did they briefly mention it?’’
‘’Yes, I am serious. And they asked us, and the decision is made. We’ll be touring all around the country, then head off to Europe.’’
‘’The decision has been made? Are you fucking serious?’’
‘’Yes, I did just say that, didn’t I?’’
‘’Fuck you! You went and made a decision like that without me? What the fuck, Jared? Do you really think I feel like touring right now?!’’
‘’Just because you’re being a nostalgic wimp doesn’t give you the right to hold us back. We’re going, whether you like it or not. Majority rules.’’
And the line went dead. Slamming the phone back onto the desk, I got out of bed and walked into the kitchen. A world tour? Now? I didn’t like the sound of it. Apart from the fact that I was being a ‘’nostalgic wimp’’, the others weren’t in a state to tour themselves. I didn’t know the reason behind it, but their drinking problems had been getting worse. The Followills always had drinking problems. But these issues only seemed to be worsening.
I pulled a navy suitcase out from under my bed, and began searching my room for items I’d need to take on tour with me. As I rummaged through my bed-side table, I pulled out a small, silver bracelet. I gasped as I remembered it was the one I had bought Kelsey. I held it in the palm of my hand, and sighed. I had to give it back to her. I couldn’t keep it.
**
Within a few hours, I was all packed. My suitcase was full of clothes, toiletries, and some money. My Epiphone Sheraton and Les Paul SG were safe and sound in their cases, in the back seat of my car.
I was meeting the rest of the band, including Nacho (another family member – and also our guitar tech) and the other roadies, at Jared’s house. From there, we’d discuss where we were heading first on this tour.
‘’Hello?’’ I groaned, feeling incredibly groggy.
‘’Good morning sunshine!’’ It was Jared. Obviously he had forgotten about our little disagreement yesterday; he sounded rather chirpy.
‘’Uh, hey man. How are you?’’
‘’Pretty amazing! Guess what just happened?’’
‘’You finally realized you like penis. I don’t know, what? This better be good, you woke me up…’’ I grumbled.
‘’Well, I don’t know if ‘Sex On Fire’ reaching the top of the charts is good enough for you… Nah, doubt it is. Get back to sleep,’’ Jared retorted. And with that, he hung up.
I instantly sat up, a grin appearing on my face. Was he joking? It had taken our band so long to get into the mainstream music scene, and now we’re number one?! Fuck, our record had only been out for one week!
I picked up the phone, and called Jared back.
‘’You cheeky bastard!’’ I yelled. ‘’That’s great news!’’
‘’Yeah, and the record label wants us to do a world tour soon!’’ He explained.
‘’… A-a-are you serious? Did they ask you guys, or did they briefly mention it?’’
‘’Yes, I am serious. And they asked us, and the decision is made. We’ll be touring all around the country, then head off to Europe.’’
‘’The decision has been made? Are you fucking serious?’’
‘’Yes, I did just say that, didn’t I?’’
‘’Fuck you! You went and made a decision like that without me? What the fuck, Jared? Do you really think I feel like touring right now?!’’
‘’Just because you’re being a nostalgic wimp doesn’t give you the right to hold us back. We’re going, whether you like it or not. Majority rules.’’
And the line went dead. Slamming the phone back onto the desk, I got out of bed and walked into the kitchen. A world tour? Now? I didn’t like the sound of it. Apart from the fact that I was being a ‘’nostalgic wimp’’, the others weren’t in a state to tour themselves. I didn’t know the reason behind it, but their drinking problems had been getting worse. The Followills always had drinking problems. But these issues only seemed to be worsening.
I pulled a navy suitcase out from under my bed, and began searching my room for items I’d need to take on tour with me. As I rummaged through my bed-side table, I pulled out a small, silver bracelet. I gasped as I remembered it was the one I had bought Kelsey. I held it in the palm of my hand, and sighed. I had to give it back to her. I couldn’t keep it.
**
Within a few hours, I was all packed. My suitcase was full of clothes, toiletries, and some money. My Epiphone Sheraton and Les Paul SG were safe and sound in their cases, in the back seat of my car.
I was meeting the rest of the band, including Nacho (another family member – and also our guitar tech) and the other roadies, at Jared’s house. From there, we’d discuss where we were heading first on this tour.