Before It's Over

The day spent in Phoenix, Arizona was one to be remembered. How would it be remembered? Well, as the hottest day on the Warped Tour. When I stepped out of the van at nine o'clock that morning, it had to be at least ninety degrees. I grabbed at my loose tank top, holding it away from my chest so air could pass through.

"Jeeze," said Ross as he landed on the black top next to me. "Are we in Hell? I though we were playing Phoenix."

"I would laugh Ross, really," I said sincerely with a smile. "But it's just too hot."

"Believe me, I understand."

"My God, what made the sun so angry?" Adam said as he turned around the corner of the trailer.

"Where have you been?" I asked when he reached Ross and I.

Adam wiped some sweat off his brow before he answered. "Catering. First in line, baby!"

"Dude," Ross said. "You are so lucky! Why didn't you take me with you?"

Ross grasped Adam's arm in a pleading manner. Adam shook him off and hit the side of his head. Ross only grunted and rubbed where Adam's hand had made contact.

"Come on, Ave," he said, now grasping my upper arm. "Let's get breakfast."

Ross pulled me along to the catering tent where the line was already massive. We didn't talk for fear that our breath would add to the heat. The line inched forward slowly and someone stood behind us in line.

"Avery!"

"Hey, ginger. Shouldn't you be hiding in your bus?" I greeted Travis.

"I should," he laughed. "I just put on, like, three layers of sunscreen. How long have you guys been waiting?"

"Not long," Ross answered, glancing at his watch. "Can you believe this heat?"

"Nah, man. I'm not too syked about playing today. Speaking of playing, Ave, you coming to the set today?"

I looked at Travis with pleading eyes, hoping I could get out of going to the set, but he just smirked. I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to win this argument. Travis crossed his arms and beamed a triumphant smile.

"I guess so," I grumbled, looking down at my navy converse. "What time do you play?"

;;

The Forgetting Curve was playing on the Smart Punk stage at 2:30. It was 1:45. The mid-day sun was blistering and I had heard reports that a fan had suffered a heat stroke. I had just left Travis's cooled bus and was on my way to the stage to set up when I heard a melodic voice coming from one of the smaller stages in the venue. I followed the music until I came upon the Skate Ramp stage. Performing was a group of group of five guys.

They all seemed to have long hair, with the exception of the drummer and the lead singer. The boy playing keys pounded heavily on his instrument and moved his body along with the melodies. The guitarist had stolid expression, yet jumped around the stage with excitement. The drummer's arms flailed and his teeth were gritted. The bassist was as energetic as the guitarist, but had a more pleasant expression on his features. Finally, the vocalist sang his lyrics with an expression of such feeling I had to stop in my tracks to watch.

And the jury finds you guilty for the things that you did.
You're scared for life, so you turn to the man,
the man who holds you life in the palm of his hand.
And your heart starts racing like a bullet from the gun.
You can feel it in your chest. It's affecting your lungs.

I watched the rest of the set from that spot. Eventually, however, I realized I was late to sound check and hurried off to the Smart Punk stage. Making note of the band's name – Between The Trees – before I left.

;;

Dinner catering was always more crowded than lunch. The guys, those loving band mates and brother of mine, decided to get in line and hour ahead of me. This left me at least 20 people behind them in line with no one I knew around.

I stood awkwardly, with my arms crossed and my bottom lip caught in my teeth. The heat had not gotten any better during the day at it sure wasn't letting up anytime soon. I was still in my performance clothes and I was sure I smelt like my perspiration as well as Ross, Shane, and Aiden's. I cringed at the thought and shook it out of my head.

"You'd think the heat would've let up by now, huh?"

The voice from behind be seemed familiar but I couldn't place it. Confused, I turned to find the owner of this mysterious voice. I was surprised to find the lead singer of Between the Trees occupying the space behind me.

"Yeah, you'd think. You're from Between the Trees," I said, though my tone gave the statement a more questionable feel.

"Ryan Kirkland," he introduced, tipping his fedora in a gentlemanly manner.

"Avery Goodman," I countered. "Your set was amazing."

Ryan smiled an adorable smile. He scratched his nose before placing his hand in his pocket. With his free hand he pushed his hair off his sweaty forehead. He groaned and I laughed.

"Um, thanks. I saw you guys play at Pomona. You were great. I liked that one song. Oh, how's it go?"

These walls, why do we need them?
I've hidden so well.

It was strange to hear one of our songs sung to me by someone with a voice like Ryan's. He made that short sample of the song sound amazing. Of course, it was nothing compared to the sound of hundreds of fans screaming those lyrics at you.

"The Hider," I clarified. "That's the name of the song. I only caught the last couple songs of your set, but I like the one, um." I tried to remember the words to the song and it took a few moments to hear the song in my head.

Cause you
Are the brightest star
And I'm in love with who you are.

"White Lines and Red Lights."

"I liked it. I seemed much more…happy than the other two I heard. More hopeful."

"You sang it well. You have a great voice," Ryan complimented.

"Thanks," I replied, feeling the blood rush to the skin of my cheeks.

My voice was not something I showed off. I never had the desire to be a front woman. I preferred to be behind all the action, where I could see everything that was going on. Also, I wasn't one to be talkative on stage. So singing was never something that appealed to me. I very seldom sang for this reason. When I did sing, it was nothing special, no effort. So Ryan's compliment was one of the few of its kind. The only people who had ever heard me sing were Aiden, Ross, and my parents.

"I don't sing as well as you, though. I've never heard anything like your voice. It's so unique." I complimented back.

"Why thank you m'lady."

I giggled at Ryan's Renaissance inspired accent and bow. There was some adorable quality in Ryan that made me want to hug him till he can't breathe.

"Are you guys on the whole tour?" I asked, inching forward in line.

"Mhmm," Ryan answered with a nod. "You?"

"We're on the Smart Punk stage all summer. Except for the Texas dates anyway."

"Lucky," Ryan scoffed. "We never know what stage we're playing."

"What do you mean?"

Ryan explained how his band was switching between the Ernie Ball, Kevin Says, and Skate Ramp stage everyday. He mentioned that Between the Trees had played on one of the stages last year, which made me feel a little piteous of him.

Here I was, my first year on Warped, playing almost all summer on a prominent stage. Ryan's band, on the other hand, had played last year and was now migrating between three of the smallest stages on the tour. From what I heard today, I could tell Between the Trees should have an enormous fan base, but there couldn't have been more than 50 people at their set today. They deserved so much more than that.

Ryan and I talked for the next ten minuets, touching on topics like books, movies, family and, of course, music. Eventually, we reached the buffet and got our respective dinners. Ryan invited me to sit with his band and seeing as mine had already eaten, I accepted. Ryan introduced me to his band mates – Wes, Brad, Jeremy and Josh – and we talked until I had to rush off for van call.