Before It's Over

"Kyle, their set doesn't start for a while? Why were you in such a rush to get here?" I asked Kyle as he led me around the back of the main stages to watch Paramore's performance.

There was a flurry of movement everywhere. Techs were moving equipment to and from the stages. People with VIP passes wandered around. Five petite girls laughed loudly at a black haired boy who had wiped out on his skateboard. Two girls had vibrant red hair, one had a dark brown shade, another had a dark auburn with blonde highlights and the last sported an almost white-blond shag.

"Everyone's hanging out 'cause the guys from Paramore are only here for a few days. I wanted to introduce you to some guys from Dallas." Kyle answered.

A certain awkwardness still permeated the air between Kyle and me. I could tell he was still upset with me about our small dispute. I didn't want to start another argument – if what happened before could be called an argument – so I gave Kyle some distance to cool down on the way here. He was still a bit upset, but as he approached the black haired boy still lying on the ground, a smile crept its way onto his lips.

"You're never gonna get that 360." Kyle said with a slow shake of his head.

The boy turned his face toward Kyle and had to squint behind his sunglasses. He was young, no more than seventeen. A pair of silver snakebites glinted under his bottom lip. His nose was a bit too big for his size; he was thin as a twig in his cut off shorts.

Kyle offered the boy his hand. He grabbed hold and Kyle pulled him off the blacktop which, from my spot a few feet away, seemed to emitting its own heat, distorting the feet of everyone on the lot. The stranger brushed off the back of his jeans before giving Kyle one of those manly hugs.

"Avery! Hey!"

The female voice calling me was familiar, but I couldn't quite place it. I turned in the direction of the voice to find that it came from the group of five girls. They were all facing me now so it was easy to recognize them. Well, all but two of them. Hayley and Caleb's girlfriend, Braen, stood next to each other waving me over. Chelsea, Alex's girlfriend and the one who had said my name, was standing behind Braen's shoulder. The two strangers were smiling politely, the way you do when your friends know someone that you don't.

I waved and was about to walk to them when another person called my name.

"Avery! Come meet Evan," Kyle said.

I smiled apologetically to the group of girls and held up my index finger, indicating I wouldn't take long. I turned to the left again, where the black-haired boy, Evan, was rocking on his feet next to Kyle.

"Ave, this is Evan –"

"Lester?" I asked, not believing my eyes.

"Goodman?" he countered, squinting at me.

"Oh, my god! When- Wha- You look so different!" I exclaimed with a smile before letting out a joyous laugh.

"Me? Look at you! You must have grown at least two inches!"

Evan laughed too and patted my head. I couldn't hold my mock glare for more than a moment.

"Okay, someone explain to me how you guys know each other," Kyle interjected.

"Evan went to summer camp with me and Ross," I explained briefly.

"Oh, remember that time the three of us tried to move the trampoline so we could jump off of it and into the lake-"

"And when Ross tried to pull it he fell backwards-"

"And hit Amy Starke in the chest with his head!" we finished to story together before bursting out into hysterical laughter.

"I guess you had to be there," Kyle said in a dejected tone.

I glanced at Kyle apologetically and he rolled his eyes with a smile. Was I forgiven, and not just for this, but for our small dispute earlier? I took a step to my right, putting myself next to Kyle's towering form. Evan glanced between us suspiciously before shooting me a questioning look. I shook my head feverously.

"So what are you doing here?" I asked Evan.

"Playing of course!"

"Playing? As in music? Since when?"

"What? You don't think I could be musically talented? Me and Davey started Red Car Wire after you guys left for your first mini tour. Then you got all big headed and never called little childhood friends like me again." Evan finished with a pout and I laughed.

"Hoover's in your band?" I asked, remembering Evan's goofy best friend. "Is he here?"

"He's not here per say, I think he's wandering around the tents. I can call-"

"Avery!"

Evan was interrupted by Hayley, who had gotten bored waiting for Evan and me to catch up and reminisce on our childhood memories. The large group of girls I had noticed when we came backstage followed Hayley over to me. I was introduced to Ashley, Austin's girlfriend, and Erika, the obnoxiously blond front woman of the band Fight!Fight!Fight!. Erika and Evan had already met this morning, and apparently clung to one another as the newbies on the tour.

Our group of six girls spent the rest of our free time before the set watching Evan and Kyle flip around a skateboard. For a moment I flashed back to the other night, when Kyle and I laughed too loudly at Austin's attempts at drunken scooter tricks. Mydaydreams didn't last long; Braen was constantly laughing too loudly with Ashley whenever Kyle messed up.

"Hayley!" one of techs called, signaling they were ready to go on.

In the distance, Josh, Zac, Jeremy, and Paramore's touring guitarist Taylor, were all standing with guitars hanging from their shoulders or drumsticks in their hands respectively.

Hayley offered a smile, wave and quick 'Later guys' before jogging off to the stage. The rest of the group followed behind, excluding Erika, who had a set in a few minutes on the other side of the venue. I, having the shortest legs in group, walked a bit slower. Kyle hung back with me, almost tripping over his feet as he slowed his pace.

When we fell into step next to each other, Kyle smiled down at me. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but his face quickly distorted into distaste. I gave him a questioning look for looking at me that way, but then notice that he wasn't actually looking at me. He was actually looking past me at Evan, who had mysteriously appeared by my other side.

Evan began speaking about something. I wasn't paying attention, though. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Kyle dig his hands deep into his pockets and shake his head. Was Kyle's unspoken forgiveness revoked?

;;

If I thought Kyle and the guys were energetic on stage, I had obviously forgotten what Hayley Williams was like on stage. She jumped from side to side, head banged like nobody's business, and made sure she didn't deprive either side of the crowd of her interaction. The boys, though calmer than the bouncing Hayley, were still full of energy; synchronizing head banging and a flip on Jeremy's part. I decided that I would have to see another one of their sets while they were here.

After Paramore's performance, Kyle and I walked Ashley and Braen back to the bus where Austin and Caleb were playing video games. They offered us a turn, but Kyle denied it for both of us, making up an excuse that no one believed.

Kyle grabbed my upper arm and pulled me out of the bus as I waved goodbye to the guys. I stumbled down the steps and glared at Kyle when he released my arm.

"What the hell was that for?" I asked as Kyle and I began walking away from the bus.

Kyle turned his head to look at me briefly. We weren't heading in any particular direction. Kyle just zigzagged between random buses quietly and slowly. It took sometime for Kyle to speak. I wasn't going to push him though. I wanted to resolve the problem he confronted me with earlier.

"About earlier," he started as we rounded the corner of Cobra's bus. "I wanna say it wasn't right to say that. You have a right to decide who you want to be friends with and-"

"No, Kyle. I shouldn't have been so defensive. I was unfair to you. I know that. It's just that there was something about you that made me think that we shouldn't be friends. I had this feeling that if we were, I wouldn't be able to do what I came here to do."

"Avery, we can be friends and still be in our bands," Kyle said in 'duh' sort of tone.

I smiled and shook my head. "That's not exactly what I'm talking about."

"Then what is it?"

I felt like I was sort of going in circles when it came to Kyle. There was constant change in the way I felt about him. One day I was pushing him as far away as I could, and the next I was driving hours to Warped on my day off just to hang out with him. There was always a push and a pull. Kyle was stuck, confused, in the middle of my ever changing mind, wondering what the hell what was going on. I felt like he was always asking for reasons. I guess he deserved a legitimate one for once.

"My brother, as you might have noticed, is the sort of overly cliché protective older brother. He always has been. I think he sees me as a child, but I'm not. I'm almost twenty years old. He thinks I won't be able to handle this life on my own. He's our manager so he can keep an eye on me. If he was doing what he really wanted, he'd be back in Jersey with my cousin Marcus writing books on Psychology. He's only here because he thinks he needs to take care of me, that the life of a musician isn't one I can handle."

As I spoke, Kyle was listening intently. We had stopped walking and leaned up against a fence on the outskirts of the lot. We were standing close enough together so that the sleeve of Kyle's t-shirt skimmed my bare shoulder.

"I know I can do it, Kyle. I can handle this, and I want to prove that to Aiden. I need to. So I need to work my ass off on this tour. I need to do everything the best I can without any interference. I just know that I can do it…"

My words drifted as I stared into the sun setting behind the buses. I could feel Kyle's eyes boring into the side of my cheek. I stood up straight from the fence and shoved my hands into the front pockets of my denim shorts.

"Avery," Kyle said, causing me to turn my head to face him. "You can prove him wrong. You will, but tour needs to be fun too. You need a break sometimes."

"I know," I said, nodding. I turned my body to face Kyle and he did the same. We smiled at each other, a certain relief hanging about the air. "So I'm counting on you to make sure I get that break."

"Alright, Ave," he said, cracking a dazzling smile. "Kyle Burns is now officially your daily dose of fun on the Warped Tour."