Status: Active.
Warped Tour Should Be the Definition of Fun
“Be my girlfriend?”
Later on that night in the bus, I headed to Seth’s bunk. It was located at the second from the bottom therefore I had to bend down to open the curtain. He was on his laptop and had earphones plugged into his ears. He turned his head when he noticed me and unplugged one of the earphones from his ear.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?” he replied, looking back to the screen of his black Macbook.
“You left the acoustic set early and immediately went to the bus.”
“Nothing is wrong, okay?”
“Nuh uh. Something is definitely wrong,” I insisted and I saw him rolling his eyes. “Seth, everyone knows that you’re a calm person, but you’re not a dickhead. You’re the friendliest calm guy we’ve ever known. We know something is up.”
He sighed and I noticed his eyes were getting colder. “It’s nothing, okay? Just leave me alone,” he said even calmer than before. I could feel rage coming out from every word he said and I took that he really didn’t want to be bothered.
“Okay. Tell me whenever you want, okay? We’ve been best friends since we were kids.” I closed the curtain and went to the front part of the bus.
“Did he say anything?” Jazz asked as I opened the fridge.
“No,” I sighed. “He really doesn’t want to be bothered. Remember the last time we persuaded him to talk?”
Last year, Seth was doing that silent treatment again and no one knew why. We persuaded him to talk and he ended up running to his bedroom, slammed it close, and we could hear shouting and things breaking and collided against the wall. When we entered his room, it looked like it had been robbed.
Jazz thought for a moment and said, “…Yeah. It was hell scary.”
Seth rarely got upset and he did, you really didn’t want to talk to him.
I grabbed a can of orange soda and opened it before taking some gulps and sat on Cliff’s lap. I watched Jazz, Mitchell and Lianne playing cards. The boys groaned in frustration as Lianne showed her cards, smirking triumphantly.
“Lianne, you’re like the queen of cards,” Mitchell said, collecting the cards on the coffee table.
Lianne laughed. “Dad taught me the secrets in playing cards when I was in middle school.”
“How come he didn’t teach me?” her brother protested.
“You were in a band practice, and besides I’m not sure if you wanted to. Mom ended up throwing tantrum in the kitchen when she found out Dad was teaching their 12 year old daughter card secrets.”
Cliff took the can of orange soda in my hand and sipped it, eyes glued on the TV. He was watching Spongebob in concentration. I knew better than bugging Cliff when he’s watching cartoons. Bored, I grabbed a Spiderman comic book next to me and started reading.
- - -
We still didn’t know what to name our side project, so we were going to ask our fans. We decided to have a set after Every Avenue’s set. We were going to perform only five songs, so it wouldn’t take a long time for the next band to wait.
Right now, Alex was playing with Rian’s drum sticks which he borrowed for the set and I could tell he was nervous.
“Alex Gaskarth is never nervous,” I said.
He smiled. “I never played drums in front of a crowd before.”
“You’ll do fine,” I patted his shoulder, hoping it would calm him down at least a little bit.
When our time had come, Garrett walked out to the stage and we could see the crowd was confused.
“Hey guys, I know you’re waiting for You Me At Six, but there’s a band that just formed three days ago and I’m sure that you’ll love this band. Give it up for – wait, what’s your band name again?” Garrett asked, looking at us.
“We still don’t have a name,” Kennedy shouted.
Garrett laughed. “Give it up for We Still Don’t Have A Name!” We walked out to the stage while he walked back to the backstage, giving us high fives as we passed.
I could hear the crowd was screaming really loud as I walked to where the keyboard was placed with my electric guitar.
“Hey guys,” Kennedy greeted. The crowd replied by another scream. As it went silent, I could hear a girl shouting, “I LOVE YOU ALL!”
Justin replied with an “I love you too” and we all put smiles on our faces. We hadn’t performed anything and someone already liked us.
“Alright, the first song is Carolina by Brighten, enjoy!”
Justin began to strum his guitar and Alex started banging the drums. A while later, me and Austin joined them and then Justin’s voice beautifully sang through the speakers. Justin and Kennedy kept singing, keeping the crowd excited.
When we were done, it was Kennedy’s time to interact with the crowd. “So how was that first song?” The crowd screamed. “Yeah, yeah, I know. It sucked, right? Blame Alex for being such a noob on the drums.”
“HEY!” Alex shouted behind the drum kit.
Justin laughed. “Next song… is by The Fray.”
Kennedy started to sing the words of All At Once with Justin playing the guitar. I then filled in with the piano, Alex with the drums, and Austin with the bass.
Two songs later, Justin was talking through the microphone. “You guys do know that Garrett was joking about the band name, right?” I saw some people nodded. “Well, we need your help. We still don’t know what to name this side project, and we would love it if you help. Reply us at Twitter, answer Namora’s question on Tumblr, comment us on MySpace… whatever floats your boat to help!”
“See you guys around!” Kennedy ended.
We all walked back to the backstage and spotted Garrett grinning at us.
“You guys are so amazing!” he said, taking us in a group hug. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I know, Dad,” Austin replied as we all broke away. We all placed our instruments against some boxes, and Garrett handed me a bottle of mineral water. I gladly took it.
“Wanna stay in my bus and watch some chick flicks tonight?” he grinned.
“I’d rather be watching horror movies,” I replied.
“Holy shit,” Austin said and we turned to see him. “Be my girlfriend?”
Garrett and I laughed. “Thanks Austin, but it’s weird to date someone from the same band.” He pouted in response. “We’re still best buds, though,” I grinned. He beamed and hugged me tightly before skipping off, announcing the world: “I am Namora’s best bud!”
We both laughed again, this time Garrett was shaking his head.
“So, whaddya say?” Garrett asked again.
I shrugged. “We’ll watch two chick flicks and then watch zombie movies for the rest of the night.”
He smiled real wide and hugged me. “I love you for liking zombie movies.”
I thought my heart would jump out.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?” he replied, looking back to the screen of his black Macbook.
“You left the acoustic set early and immediately went to the bus.”
“Nothing is wrong, okay?”
“Nuh uh. Something is definitely wrong,” I insisted and I saw him rolling his eyes. “Seth, everyone knows that you’re a calm person, but you’re not a dickhead. You’re the friendliest calm guy we’ve ever known. We know something is up.”
He sighed and I noticed his eyes were getting colder. “It’s nothing, okay? Just leave me alone,” he said even calmer than before. I could feel rage coming out from every word he said and I took that he really didn’t want to be bothered.
“Okay. Tell me whenever you want, okay? We’ve been best friends since we were kids.” I closed the curtain and went to the front part of the bus.
“Did he say anything?” Jazz asked as I opened the fridge.
“No,” I sighed. “He really doesn’t want to be bothered. Remember the last time we persuaded him to talk?”
Last year, Seth was doing that silent treatment again and no one knew why. We persuaded him to talk and he ended up running to his bedroom, slammed it close, and we could hear shouting and things breaking and collided against the wall. When we entered his room, it looked like it had been robbed.
Jazz thought for a moment and said, “…Yeah. It was hell scary.”
Seth rarely got upset and he did, you really didn’t want to talk to him.
I grabbed a can of orange soda and opened it before taking some gulps and sat on Cliff’s lap. I watched Jazz, Mitchell and Lianne playing cards. The boys groaned in frustration as Lianne showed her cards, smirking triumphantly.
“Lianne, you’re like the queen of cards,” Mitchell said, collecting the cards on the coffee table.
Lianne laughed. “Dad taught me the secrets in playing cards when I was in middle school.”
“How come he didn’t teach me?” her brother protested.
“You were in a band practice, and besides I’m not sure if you wanted to. Mom ended up throwing tantrum in the kitchen when she found out Dad was teaching their 12 year old daughter card secrets.”
Cliff took the can of orange soda in my hand and sipped it, eyes glued on the TV. He was watching Spongebob in concentration. I knew better than bugging Cliff when he’s watching cartoons. Bored, I grabbed a Spiderman comic book next to me and started reading.
- - -
We still didn’t know what to name our side project, so we were going to ask our fans. We decided to have a set after Every Avenue’s set. We were going to perform only five songs, so it wouldn’t take a long time for the next band to wait.
Right now, Alex was playing with Rian’s drum sticks which he borrowed for the set and I could tell he was nervous.
“Alex Gaskarth is never nervous,” I said.
He smiled. “I never played drums in front of a crowd before.”
“You’ll do fine,” I patted his shoulder, hoping it would calm him down at least a little bit.
When our time had come, Garrett walked out to the stage and we could see the crowd was confused.
“Hey guys, I know you’re waiting for You Me At Six, but there’s a band that just formed three days ago and I’m sure that you’ll love this band. Give it up for – wait, what’s your band name again?” Garrett asked, looking at us.
“We still don’t have a name,” Kennedy shouted.
Garrett laughed. “Give it up for We Still Don’t Have A Name!” We walked out to the stage while he walked back to the backstage, giving us high fives as we passed.
I could hear the crowd was screaming really loud as I walked to where the keyboard was placed with my electric guitar.
“Hey guys,” Kennedy greeted. The crowd replied by another scream. As it went silent, I could hear a girl shouting, “I LOVE YOU ALL!”
Justin replied with an “I love you too” and we all put smiles on our faces. We hadn’t performed anything and someone already liked us.
“Alright, the first song is Carolina by Brighten, enjoy!”
Justin began to strum his guitar and Alex started banging the drums. A while later, me and Austin joined them and then Justin’s voice beautifully sang through the speakers. Justin and Kennedy kept singing, keeping the crowd excited.
When we were done, it was Kennedy’s time to interact with the crowd. “So how was that first song?” The crowd screamed. “Yeah, yeah, I know. It sucked, right? Blame Alex for being such a noob on the drums.”
“HEY!” Alex shouted behind the drum kit.
Justin laughed. “Next song… is by The Fray.”
Kennedy started to sing the words of All At Once with Justin playing the guitar. I then filled in with the piano, Alex with the drums, and Austin with the bass.
Two songs later, Justin was talking through the microphone. “You guys do know that Garrett was joking about the band name, right?” I saw some people nodded. “Well, we need your help. We still don’t know what to name this side project, and we would love it if you help. Reply us at Twitter, answer Namora’s question on Tumblr, comment us on MySpace… whatever floats your boat to help!”
“See you guys around!” Kennedy ended.
We all walked back to the backstage and spotted Garrett grinning at us.
“You guys are so amazing!” he said, taking us in a group hug. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I know, Dad,” Austin replied as we all broke away. We all placed our instruments against some boxes, and Garrett handed me a bottle of mineral water. I gladly took it.
“Wanna stay in my bus and watch some chick flicks tonight?” he grinned.
“I’d rather be watching horror movies,” I replied.
“Holy shit,” Austin said and we turned to see him. “Be my girlfriend?”
Garrett and I laughed. “Thanks Austin, but it’s weird to date someone from the same band.” He pouted in response. “We’re still best buds, though,” I grinned. He beamed and hugged me tightly before skipping off, announcing the world: “I am Namora’s best bud!”
We both laughed again, this time Garrett was shaking his head.
“So, whaddya say?” Garrett asked again.
I shrugged. “We’ll watch two chick flicks and then watch zombie movies for the rest of the night.”
He smiled real wide and hugged me. “I love you for liking zombie movies.”
I thought my heart would jump out.