Waiting on a Diamond and a Tether

Ali’s point of view

“Ali, hurry up! We’re going to get breakfast,” Anny yelled as I slipped on my boots and fixed up my hair. For four days now, life had been smooth sailing, at least in appearance; the boys were happy, I was happy and having the girls here made it seem all that much better.

“I’m coming!” I yelled back hearing the door to the bus close, making me the only one still not ready, as usual. I grabbed my purse and walked out. I was expecting a heat wave to hit me just as every other day, but instead, I was greeted by a very gray and rainy day in Chicago.

“Come under the umbrellas Ali,” Anny called out as they all smiled at me. It had become a ritual every morning to stand out in front of the bus for a couple of minutes. Just in order to see how everyone was doing and to eat breakfast before going off and preparing for the day.

“Surprised by the rain?” Kennedy asked, smiling at me.

“Yes actually. Do you still play if it rains?” I asked, confused.

“We play rain or shine or snow or sandstorm, Ali,” Jared added, taking a sip of his coffee. I grabbed my vest and slipped it over my t-shirt. The rain had cooled down the temperature considerably and my thin t-shirt wouldn’t cut it.

“Where’s John?” I asked.

“He’s on the phone with his mom,” Garrett replied. “So, are you guys like a ‘thing’ yet?”

“For the fourth time Garrett, no we are not a ‘thing’. You’ve been asking me for four days now. The answer won’t change,” I shot back, annoyed.

“Why do I sense that you were just talking about me?” John said as he walked over, lifting an eyebrow.

“Because Garrett is stalking our relationship status,” I replied.

“I am not-”

“Are too-”

“Enough,” Anny interfered. “Now, what do we have to do today?”

“Same as every other day...” I trailed off. “Except now everything is going to be wet.”

“Let’s go set up then,” Ally sighed as we walked to the trailer.

“Have a good day guys,” I replied, following Ally. They waved and started heading towards the backstage area.

“I don’t know how you do this everyday Ali,” Anny sighed as I unlocked the trailer. “I’ve been helping you out less than a week and I’m already fed up.”

“It’s a job, I don’t really have a choice,” I laughed as I helped her carry out a box.

“I always feel helpless when we set up,” Ally whined. “I never carry anything or help put up the tent...”

“You’re just here to look pretty, Ally,” I teased as we all walked over to the tent. The boys had popped up the tent and we were left to sort the t-shirts, display the CDs and fix up the tables.

By three, it was clear that it was going to be a slow day today. Everything was wet. Water was seeping in through the tent, soaking the carton boxes and wetting all of the t-shirts. Kids were leaving and we’d barely sold anything all day.

“I’m so bored guys,” Ally called out of the silence. “I’m considering eating just so I have something to do.”

“I know, this weather is depressing the crap out of me,” I sighed, leaning against the table. Suddenly, Pat emerged from behind the tent, completely soaked.

“Guys, we just played and they’re shutting down the venue,” he said, out of breath.

“What? Why?” Anny asked, puzzled. “I thought you played, and I quote, ‘in rain or shine or snow or sandstorm’”, I teased.

“We do, but not when the organizers shut down the venue because of severe thundershowers,” he explained, ringing out his t-shirt.

“Okay...” I trailed off. “So what do we do? Pack up?”

“Yeah and we’re going to leave soon, so hurry up guys,” he responded and headed off to the bus. Just as he left, we started packing up and bringing down the tent. Once we were finally finished and put everything back in the trailer, we were drenched in water.

“I’m so cold, I think I’m about to go into hypothermia,” Ally called out as we got on the bus.

“You’d be in convulsions on the floor if that was true, Ally,” Anny replied.

“I can feel them coming if I don’t get out of these clothes,” she shot back.

“I wish we could take a shower or something,” I said, completely exhausted. The weather had completely drained me out. I just wanted a hot bath and a good book to read.

“You girls look drained,” John called out from the sofa, smirking.

“You think?” I added sarcastically as i ringed out my hair.

“John, do you think we could stop at a hotel or something to shower?” Anny asked as the rest of the boys arrived.

“I guess so. We have extra time before tonight anyways,” he replied, looking back at his laptop.

“What’s tonight?” I asked, falling back onto the sofa next to him. He turned to me and handed me the bag of chips he was eating. I smiled and reached my hand in to grab a couple.

“It’s our turn to have a bus party. I think we should clean up a little and we need to go buy juices for mixing and alcohol so I guess it’s kind of a good day for the rain,” he explained, flashing me his signature crooked smile. I couldn’t help but be excited. I hadn’t been to a real party with real friends and people I actually could have a good time with in a very long time.

“Sweet! Did you guys know about this?” Ally asked the rest of the boys.

“Not until now,” Jared added, confused. “John is the party master though, so it’s not surprising,” he teased.

“Don’t hate Jar, appreciate,” I added, smiling.

“Do I really have to go?” Pat whined as he made his way past us and into the bunk room. He grabbed a t-shirt that seemed clean and came back out.

“Oh come on Pat, it’ll do you good to talk to other people other than us or with your mom on the phone,” Kennedy teased. Pat mimicked him and before we knew it, we were on the road, heading to a cheap hotel to rent out for a couple of hours.

We rented three rooms to make the showering process faster. We had a bunch of things to do before tonight, so we set a time to be back in the bus by, and that time was getting awfully closer and closer. Ally showered first, followed my Anny and I was last to go.

“You guys can leave while I shower you know,” I said, grabbing a change of clothes for tonight.

“Are you sure?” Anny asked.

“Yeah, go hang out in the guys’ room, it’s fine,” I replied. They smiled and walked out and I was left to myself to shower. I went into the bathroom and locked the door behind me. It wasn’t the cleanest bathroom I’ve been in, but it would just have to do. Plus, I didn’t know when the next shower would become available so I just let all my clothes drop to the floor and turned on the water. I hopped in and let the warm water hit my body. I was in heaven; I could feel the muscles in my body instantly relax. Once I was done, I wrapped a towel around my hair and body and walked out into the room. John was the last person I expected to find there.

“What are you doing here?” I said, surprised.

“I came to get the camera and to tell you that we’re in charge of the alcohol buying for tonight, so hurry up, we have to get going,” he said, starring straight at me. I’d forgotten that I was wearing nothing but a towel that barely covered my butt.

“Okay..” I trailed off. “Couldn’t you wait outside though?”

“Sorry... It’s just, it’s not the best of neighborhoods outside. I was kind of scared. I’m pretty sure a drug deal was going down outside,” he smiled, nervously. He made me melt with that last part. I laughed and got my clothes from my bag.

“What are you wearing?” He asked.

“Creeper much?” I laughed. “You’ll see in a minute. Can you like, turn around while I change. Or go lock yourself in the bathroom? I can’t change in there, there’s not enough room.”

“Oh come on Ali, it’s not like I’ve never seen you naked before,” he said and then, we both became uncomfortable. It brought images back to mind, images of us together, happy, in a way I’d learned to forget.

“What the hell was that, John?” I replied, somewhat angry.

“I don’t know, I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from. Just forget I even said it, please?” he pleaded.

“Right,” I trailed off. “Can you go wait in the bathroom?”

“Yeah, sure,” he said as he walked by me and locked himself in the bathroom. I leaned against the bathroom door and I could feel him on the other side doing the same.

“It’s going to be harder than I thought staying friends,” I said out loud.

“Yeah... A lot harder. I’m sorry.”

“I know.”