Before It's Over

It seemed as though I had only been sleeping for twenty minutes instead of two hours when Aiden woke me up to take the next driving shift. He told me to follow the bus that was in front of us. "Pull over when they pull over and wake up Ross," he told me. I nodded and pulled off the side of the road behind the bus.

As I drove behind the trailer attached to the bus, I couldn't help but feel jealous. Every member of that band was probably asleep right now. They had their own bus driver. They probably had their own tech guys. They probably had a merch kid that wasn't also their manager. They probably had a huge fan base that bought tons of merch everyday. They probably had enough money to pay for gas. We didn't have that stuff. So I envied that bus and the band inside.

It didn't seem long before my hour shift was up and the bus was turning into a gas station. I followed them in and pulled the van up to a pump. I unbuckled myself and exited the car. I walked to the back of the van and peered inside. Ross and Adam seemed comfortable in their mess of blankets and pillows. Well, that was about to be ruined. I opened one of the doors to the back of the van, minding the trailer a couple of feet behind me. I reached inside the van and shook Ross' shoulder.

"Huuuuuh," Ross grumbled, rolling over to face me. He rubbed his eyes before squinting at me from the floor of the van. "Is it my turn?" he asked in a whisper.

I nodded. "You need to fill up the van. I'm gonna go see if I can get some munchies real quick." I didn't wait for a response from the groggy Ross.

Though it was late, the driving I had done made me hungry. I walked across the lot of the gas station towards the small store. It seemed to be deserted other than a heavier man and the cashier. When I entered, the florescent lights made me squint. I scanned the store before spotting the chips aisle. I took long strides as I approached. Once I got to the aisle, it didn't take long for me to find what I wanted. I grabbed two bags of veggie chips and turned to make my way to the check out counter.

The small feat ended up being harder than expected. As I made the sharp turn out of the chips aisle, I bumped into someone, causing me to drop my chips and the stranger to drop their sunflower seeds. I'm such a klutz.

"Oh, God. I'm sorry," I said as I bent to pick up my bags. As I grabbed the first bag, a head of peroxide blond hair appeared in front of me. The stranger, who was obviously a guy, reached for his sunflower seeds. As I grabbed my other bag, the boy lifted his head so our eyes were level. I tried to be subtle as I ogled at the blue orbs. We stood up at the same time and the stranger was towering over my five foot six frame. His lips stretched across his face in an attractive smile, and a silver ring reflected the florescent lights from its place on his nose.

"It's no problem. I'm Kyle," he said, reaching out his hand, which I shook. "You're Avery."

When Kyle said his name, I immediately recognized him as the drummer from Forever The Sickest Kids. What worried me was how he knew my name. I knew my band wasn't that well known. I pulled my hand out of his awkwardly.

"Um, yes. How'd you know?" I asked, eying him suspiciously.

"I watched your band's set today. You were good. Your drum beats are amazing."

Kyle's compliment was paired with another gorgeous smile. I blushed and turned to make my way to check out. Kyle followed.

"Thanks. I, um, didn't get a chance to check you guys out today, but your beats are pretty awesome as well."

Our conversation paused as we paid for our food at the counter. The whole time, the cashier looked at Kyle with a disapproving expression. After both of us had paid for our food, we headed out the glass doors. I gave a smile in Kyle's direction and started to head back to the van. I didn't get far; Kyle grabbed my wrist after two steps.

"Are you guys playing the whole tour?" he asked, pulling me by my wrist, causing me to take a step back towards him.

"Um," I started. What was up with me and saying 'um'? "No, we have off all the Texas dates." I answered, glancing anxiously back at the van.

"If they leave you, you can ride with us," Kyle said, obviously noticing my actions. "We're playing the whole tour. Maybe we could hang sometime, like, our bands."

"Sure," I answered distractedly, glancing at the van again. "Look, I really should get back in the van. Nice meeting you, Kyle." My wrist slipped from his grasp and the warmth that his body heat had given was now hit with cool, night air.

As I walked across the lot, Kyle said, "I'll see you around, Avery?"

I turned my head to glace at Kyle with a smile and nodded. I could see his lips spread into yet another amazing smile before I turned again. I reached the van just as Ross was putting the keys in the ignition. I climbed into the van, careful not to wake Aiden, who had taken my place in the front row. I carefully turned around to shut the door as quietly as possible. As the door slid shut a certain peroxide blond caught my eye. His hand was waving and a grin graced his lips.

I climbed passed Shane and Aiden who had taken places on the back seats and landed in the back of the van. I tip-toed over Adam and collapsed in Ross' previous spot. The van jerked as Ross began to pull out of the gas station, followed by Kyle's bus. I propped myself up against the wall of the van and opened a bag of veggie chips.

"So you met Kyle Burns?" Ross' voice startled me. I reacted by dropping my chip on Adam's arm.

"Uh huh." I said as I cautiously picked the chip up. "He was kinda weird," I explained.

I inspected the chip as best I could in the dark before throwing it in a plastic bag with other trash.

"Why do ya say that?" Ross asked from the front seat.

His voice was low enough so he wouldn't wake the boys, but still loud enough for me to hear. I had always loved Ross' speaking voice. It was smooth and always seemed to have a happy tone. When we were younger and Ross was always hanging out at my house, I would ask him to read to me. He read wonderfully and I remember being fascinated by the way the words of J.K. Rowling spilled from his lips.

"He just knew my name. He was all like 'I'm Kyle. You're Avery.' It was creepy," I answered, failing at my attempt to sound manly.

Ross laughed quietly from the front seat. "Yeah, a bit. So he recognized you?"

"Yeah, he watched our set today, apparently," I said biting into a carrot chip.

"Well that's cool. At least we're attracting attention."

"Yeah," I said before biting into another chip.

Ross didn't say anything else, and I mentally thanked him for not prying. The silence gave me time to think. My first encounter with Kyle Burns was awkward, and yet I couldn't help but want to see him again. That, however, was out of the question. I had promised that this tour was about proving myself to everyone who said I couldn't do this, especially Aiden. This pull that I had toward Kyle, whatever it meant, was sure to get in the way of that. So, as I sat in the back of the van, munching on veggie chips and listening to the breathing of my band mates, I made another promise. I promised myself that I would not befriend Kyle.

Kyle, I already knew, had an affect on me. That wasn't acceptable. I knew that if I let him, Kyle would get closer to me. If Kyle got closer to me and we were friends, it would definitely distract me. I had decided already that would be no distractions for me on tour. And no matter how much I tried to convince myself that I could do this, that I could avoid Kyle, deep inside, I knew that it would be excruciatingly hard to do so.