Before It's Over

When Ross and I reached the van, Shane had finished his phone conversation and the rest of the boys were up. Aiden stood outside the van, already dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a Glamour Kills tee. His right hand was shoved in his pocket and the other shaded his eyes from the morning sun as he watched Ross and I approach. Adam was still sitting in the back of the van. The sheets he had been sleeping in were twisted around his legs and up to his torso. His hair was a mess and his eyes were half closed. Shane sat in the passenger seat with the door opened. He sat sideways and his legs dangled out of the van.

"Hey guys, I found her!" Ross said enthusiastically. "Apparently she was talking to a certain bassist she looks up to."

At Ross's last statement, Adam's eyes opened wide and shot towards Avery. Shane looked up from the cell phone he was previously turning in his hands. Aiden let a smile creep onto his face.

"Well who was it Ave?" Adam asked, struggling to free himself from the clutches of the sheets that trapped him.

I thought about telling them, but decided against it. The boys wouldn’t mind if I kept them in suspense for a bit. So, I simply shook my head told them it was no one of importance. I swear I heard Adam groan in annoyance.

"So who's escorting me to catering?" I asked, unlinking my arm from Ross's.

"I will," answered Shane.

At the same time, Aiden raised his hand away from his eyes, the corners of them wrinkling as he squinted. I looked at Ross, expecting him to do the same. Then I realized that he, much like myself was not dressed to go anywhere in public. That led to the realization that I had been in my pajamas whilst I conversed with Alex. I groaned from embarrassment and the three boys shot me questioning looks.

"Alex Suarez saw me looking like this," I explained.

"HA! It was Alex Suarez you met!" Ross yelled before letting out a girlish squeal. Sometimes I question his sexuality.

"Yeah, yeah. You wouldn't have known if I wasn't in this state of embarrassment," I said elbowing him in the stomach lightly. Ross just chuckled and I rolled my eyes.

I took this as the time for me to change. So I took the two small steps that put me parallel with the vans door. I lent over and pulled my duffel bag of clothes out from under the driver's seat. The bag was difficult to get out and I had to resort to using both my hands. Once the bag was released from its prison, I pulled the strap over my shoulder and headed towards the trailer. When I reached the door to the trailer I could still hear the boys' voices, but they weren't the only voices I heard. Another group of guys was standing near by. Most of the strangers had their backs to me except for a tall, familiar, ginger-haired male that was wearing a purple tee. I must have been looking at them for a long time, because eventually the red head noticed me and waved. His smile gave him away, and I knew why he seemed familiar. It was Travis Clark from We The Kings. I could feel the heat in my cheeks and I was grateful his group of friends hadn't noticed me. Being the polite person I was, I waved back before hurrying to push the trailer door up and ducking inside with my bag.

I turned on the small office light that was nailed into the wooden floor of the trailer. Once I was sure I could see, I closed the door all the way. I pulled undergarments from a side pocket in the duffel then took out some Capri pants and a tank top. I pulled off my dirty pajamas and threw them into a plastic bag I dubbed the Laundry Basket. I then slipped into my clean clothes, tied the Laundry Basket, and threw it back into my duffel bag. I zipped the duffel before lifting the trailer door half way. I turned off the office light and ducked back out of the trailer.

Travis' group had vanished but I could still hear the voices of my band mates. I turned the corner around the trailer to find Shane, Aiden and Ross in the same positions I had left them in. Adam, however, was now standing next to Ross and looked a bit more awake. I approached the boys smiling and threw my duffel back under the driver's seat.

"So are we set to go then?" I asked.

Shane and Aiden nodded. From the corner of my eye I saw Ross climbing back into the van to change. Shane stood from his sitting position and stuffed his phone in his back pocket. Adam turned and I took the two steps that put me between the two boys. As we started in the direction of catering, I heard Ross screaming something about missing underwear.

"So what did you're Mom want, Shane?"

I knew from the beginning that Shane would be keeping in touch with his family all through tour. He worried about them. None of the guys were as involved with Shane's family situation as I was. I knew Shane needed someone to talk to about it because he would never trouble his family, and I was willing to be that person he could confide in.

"Um, Jamie had a surprise recital. Her instructor only sent out emails and the computer was down. Mom ended up having to rush the girls to the hall in ten minutes," he explained with an amused smile on his face.

I found myself asking the same question I heard Shane ask earlier. "How'd she do?"

"Great. Her instructor complimented her on her performance, actually. I swear that girl's gonna run away to some dance school."

Whenever Shane spoke about his sisters, there was a significant change in his voice. It was no longer deep and harsh. It became admiring and loving, as though he was speaking about heaven. His face changed too. On his lips was a smile that I only ever saw again when he spoke to his girlfriend, Norah. It was big and reached his eyes.

The two boys and I reached catering early and entered the already existing line. I immediately noticed the head of long red hair that stood in front of our group.

It was common knowledge back home that I had a huge best-friend-crush on Travis Clark. I definitely wanted to get to know Travis, but my stupid shy demeanor prevented me from introducing myself. Instead, I turned my back to Travis and faced Aiden and Shane.

My two companions had matching, smug smiles on their faces. Aiden stood in a girlish manner with his arms crossed and his hip popped to the left as he put his weight on his left foot. Shane stood in a more intimidating manner with his legs shoulder length apart and his muscles showing on his crossed arms. I shrunk inside myself.

"Ave," Aiden whispered in a pushy tone. "Introduce yourself."

"Yeah," Shane agreed. "You know you want to."

Stubbornly, I shook my head. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my Capri pants awkwardly and lowered my gaze to my feet. I could see Shane shift his weight and raise his arm, but I didn't have time to flinch away before he hit me lightly on my arm.

"Ow!" I accidentally shouted, clutching my arm, more out of reflex than pain.

"Oh, come off it Ave. I didn't hit you that hard," he said before leaning towards me. "Just say hello. We'll meet him with you." Shane assured in a whispering version of his band-dad voice.

I sighed, and then looked between Aiden and Shane who wore encouraging smiles on their mugs. I gave them both a simple nod and their encouraging smiles turned to ones of plain happiness. I took a deep breath, hoping it would calm my nerves. It didn't, but I turned around none-the-less and tapped Travis's shoulder.

He stopped talking to who I recognized as his band mate – Danny. Travis then turned to me and the boys with a friendly smile on his face.

"Hey man," Shane spoke first. I made a mental note to thank him later.

Travis's smile didn't falter as Shane introduced our group. Travis then introduced us to Danny who smiled politely and shook our hands. The four guys discussed their music first, only stopping once when they noticed that the line was moving. The subject then switched to Warped Tour's dates and what stages the bands were playing. The whole while I just listened and looked between the two sets of guys, too nervous to join in on the conversation.

"Avery," Travis said, catching my attention. "I saw you in the lot this morning. Didn’t I?"

I nodded with a smile. "You should have stayed longer. You could have saved me from an awkward conversation with Kyle Burns."

"From Forever the Sickest Kids?" It was a rhetorical question. "Those dudes are awesome!"

Oh, crap. They were friends. I groaned in my mind. This is just my luck. The person I need to avoid and the person I want to hang with are friendly with each other. I played off my new found grumpy mood by faking a smile and nodding at Travis's comment.