Speechless.

Amelia did not know where she was headed. In fact she didn’t even know where she was. Was she in Pennsylvania or were they in Delaware now? Amelia had never ventured off of the ATL bus that had promised her seclusion and protection. But out here—out in the open, she was vulnerable. Anyone and everyone could and would see her.

A bus door several feet ahead of her opened and a loud group of clumsy men stumbled off it; distantly she knew them as a several members of a band and their crew. Fear struck her however, they were drunk, she knew and so she darted between two buses. It did not matter if Amelia had met them once, in fact she wasn’t quite sure she had, or if her brother knew them, fear still kicked in and her instincts came out to play.

Silently, Amelia wished that she had gone with Cassadee that day to her bus, and then maybe she’d be able to find her one friend now. But each and every bus was identical to the last and Amelia’s eyes pricked with tears of frustration and fright. She’d been walking pass bus after bus now, and even if Amelia wanted to return to All Time Low’s bus she’d never be able to find her way now.

Amelia Flyzik was lost. But it wasn’t the first time. In fact, Amelia had gotten lost so many times now in her short years that the feeling had become familiar to her. The feeling of no sense of direction, the disorientation, and the freedom to go wherever she chose.

But Amelia wasn’t free to go wherever she chose. She was on Warped Tour, she couldn’t just slip onto a bus and ride it until the driver threw her off in some unknown part of the state. She couldn’t disappear into an ally and become a ghost to the world, or vanish into an abandoned subway tunnel. Amelia was on Warped Tour, caged, the only other bus she dared to step onto was Hey Monday’s, but Amelia hadn’t a clue as to which bus was theirs.
She couldn’t disappear into an ally, for one there were no allies, and in a matter of minutes she knew that all of All Time Low and all of their crew would be out looking for her. Amelia figured she had only a few more minutes after that before Cassadee and the rest of Hey Monday joined the search. Amelia knew Matt could and would involve the whole tour if she wasn’t found.

Paranoia began to set in, she was out in the open. Anyone, everyone, could see her, what if he found her? What if this was the last straw for Matt and he sent her home? What if—

“Amelia?” She jumped startled, and spun around to see a familiar face. “Finally became a dare devil huh? Stepping off the bus and all that...” Her eyes were wild as they darted around in search of any sign of Matt or the rest of the search party getting ready to jump out at her. “Hey are you okay?” He questioned taking in her alert form. “Amelia?” her eyes darted back to him.

“John.” She stated in acknowledgment. Her voice was low and hoarse and being a singer, John knew a thing or two about vocals, something was wrong with her voice.

“Yeah?”

Her eyes began to dart around again. As she began to slowly back away from the boy. She couldn’t stay here, out in the open, she had to find Cassadee, had to hide from Matt and the others. “Hey didn’t Matt say you didn’t talk or something?” Amelia nodded a minimal amount before she turned on her heels and began walking. “But you just said my name.” He stated jogging to catch up with her as the two walked side by side; destination unknown.

Amelia was silent and John figured that she was not going to say more on the matter or to him period. But wheels in John’s head were turning, wondering why she didn’t talk, wondering what was wrong with her voice.

“Are you looking for someone?” She nodded wordlessly as they continued down the ally of buses. “Cassadee maybe?” He guessed. “Seeing as how you all but ran from the direction of ATL’s bus.” Amelia turned to him, her feet stopping dead before a bus. She studied him quizzically for a moment before she nodded her head slowly. Yes she was looking for Cassadee. “Well why didn’t you just say so?” Amelia just frowned at his lame attempt a joke before nodding, “Right. Well, follow me; I’ll take you to her bus.”

John grabbed her hand and dragged her along. His hand was large and rough in her small frail hand. John thought nothing of the action, of grabbing her hand, guiding her toward Hey Monday’s bus. But John had no idea…he had no idea of what the gesture meant to Amelia, of how it made her heart race in all the wrong ways. Because John O’Callaghan had no idea that the last time a man touched her, he had almost killed her.