Hummingbird

Today had been a long day of sitting at the merch tent. Who knew that Buffalo had so many people living there? I was excited for tonight though, Alex had invited me over to his bus to hang out with All Time Low, A Rocket to the Moon, and Forever the Sickest Kids.

In my head, I went over everything that I would have to do tonight before going over to the All Time Low bus for the night. Shower, get dressed, fix hair, grab clothes for tomorrow, find Chris’s guitar pick, go see Craig for a little bit, go to Alex’s.

I made my way through the busy bus-filled parking lot and only barely managed to avoid getting knocked over by Craig, who came running my way.

"Hey!" He screamed once he reached me.

"Hey!" I screamed back. I felt his arm wrap around me and plant a kiss on my cheek and internally, I was smiling.

“So how are you on this fine evening?” He asked me.

“Pretty darn great, and you?”

“Amazing!”

I laughed, “And why would that be, Mr. Mabbitt?”

We stopped walking and he pulled me close. “Because right now, I’m about to kiss the most amazing girl in the world.”

My internal smile broke out onto my face as his lips crashed onto mine. I had to wonder, how did this happen? How did this outrageous dream come true?

All of a sudden, I felt my feet leave the ground and my body being pulled away from Craig.

“Sorry, Mabbitt, but we need her right now before the set starts!” a voice I recognized shouted. Caleb. The idiot had pulled me away from Craig and thrown me over his shoulder before I could apologize to Craig, who stood back where I had once been, and was laughing. Jerk.

I tried to keep laughter out of my voice as I pretended to yell at Caleb, and failed miserably.

“Caleb, put me the fuck down!” I laughed.

After we had traveled across the parking lot and into our bus, Caleb finally set me down. I looked around and stood in shock.

“Caleb, what the hell happened in here? I’ve only been gone for like, what, five hours? This place looks like the mall threw up in it.”

Clothes were strewn everywhere, pillows and blankets were lying on top of the fridge and TV. Magazines, books, and video games were thrown everywhere. Bags of chips were open and spilled all over the place.
Caleb looked nervous; he knew how much I hated cleaning up these kinds of messes for them. “Well, you weren’t here, and we tried finding Chris’s pick on our own, which failed, because we don’t have the magic guitar pick radar that you have.”

His reply didn’t amuse me. There was no way in hell that I was cleaning all of this up.

I took a deep breath before answering. “Caleb, I will say all of this once. First, I’ll find Chris’s pick for you guys. Second, this bus better fricken shine by the time I get back, cause I will beat every single one of you if this mess isn’t picked up. If its not picked up, I’ll stay on All Time Low’s bus until it is, and you know that Chris will throw a hissy fit if I do that. Get it?”

Caleb nodded eagerly. I shoved him out of the way so that I could go find Chris’s pick. The only place on the entire bus that looked untouched seemed to be my bunk. Thank gosh. The boys would have woken up to a huge nightmare if they had thrown all of my stuff everywhere.

I reached into the front pocket of my messenger bag and found Chris’s pick. I had remembered him telling me that this was his new safekeeping spot for it. Apparently he forgot that he had put it there. I walked back to the front of the bus and shoved the pick into Caleb’s hand.

“Go take this to Chris,” I ordered. “I’ll be there in like ten minutes.”

He nodded and mumbled a quick thank you before leaving. I worked hard to pack my things for tonight, but found it hard to concentrate on what I needed to grab. Huge messes like the one around me freak me out.
I tried to push thoughts about the disaster around me out of my mind as I pulled out my purse. I dumped all of its contents except for my wallet and phone onto the bed. From my suitcase, I pulled out a pair of old gym class shorts, one of Chris’s old v-necks, and a bra and underwear. I went into the bathroom to grab the makeup bag that I kept on the sink. The boys always get annoyed with me taking up the small space on the sink in the bathroom, but I always win the argument, and get to keep my stuff there. I also grabbed my toothbrush, toothpaste, and cell phone charger. I decided to leave my bag here and grab it on my way over to meet with Alex and the rest of the guys.

I checked the tiny clock on my phone and took off in a sprint to get to the stage. I made it backstage right as Chris was about to walk on stage.

“Hey Ingle!” I screamed.

He turned around and smiled when he saw that it was me. “Gook luck!” I shouted. He gave me a thumbs up and I smiled. I followed him, but only to the side of the stage.

“Hello, Buffalo!” he screamed into the mic. “This first song was written about my very best friend in the whole wide world. For those of you wondering, she’s that girl standing over to the side there.” He turned and pointed at me. I couldn’t help but blush and laugh nervously. “Christofer Drew, you are a jerk!” I said, only him and the others on stage could hear, but the whole crowd laughed when I flipped him off and then blew him a kiss.

He laughed and turned back to the mic, jumping right into the first few notes.

“You see this girl
She's got a problem telling time
If you knew her
You'd ask me so many questions
She's confused about her image
Although we all agree she's so beautiful”

-

Later that night on All Time Low’s bus, I was having the time of my life. The guys from Forever the Sickest Kids and A Rocket to the Moon were really nice. The bus was slightly crowded, and one band or another would show up for a little bit and then leave. Most of the guys were drunk, or were trying to get drunk. I was the only girl the entire time.

“So, Niki, what’s it like being one of the only girls on tour?” Nick Santino asked me. Out of all the new guys that I had met, I talked to him the most. And he was almost completely sober, which was good.
“Well, it’s pretty crazy, but I’m having fun with it.” I took another swig of the beer in my hand and leaned backwards, ending up resting against Zack. I stretched my legs out and put my feet on top of Nick, who smiled.

Alex interrupted any and all thoughts of mine by storming through the bus shouting something about how he wanted cookies. I laughed at how he could get so trashed so fast.

After each sip of beer, things became more and more hazy, and I struggled to keep from zoning out.

Before I really even comprehended what was happening, the boys started leaving and All Time Low started disappearing back to their bunks. I didn’t even realize the Nick had lifted me up and was now carrying me until he spoke to a drunken Alex.

“Hey dude, I think she’s done for the night. I didn’t think that she was staying on the couch, so which bunk?” Ahh, thank you, Mr. Santino. Even though I was completely drunk, my inner sober self registered the fact that I didn’t want to sleep on a couch.

Alex himself was on his way back to his bunk. “Uhh, well” he slurred, “I think that when I talked to herr, we sssaid sshhhhe’d sstay wiff mee.”

I knew that I was fully capable of walking (sort of), but even so, Nick followed Alex’s swaying lead back to the bunks and set me down in one of them. I had already taken my shoes off earlier, and I wasn’t bothered sleeping in my shorts and tank top. It was funny how sober me had tried to make life easier for drunk me.
I gave Nick a hug goodbye and muttered a thank you, and not long after he left, Alex appeared in bed beside me.

“Hi, Alex.” I didn’t open my eyes.

“Hi.” I think after that, he passed out, but I wasn’t too sure. I drifted off to sleep and by the time it happened, was already too far gone to notice a pair of arms slip around my waist.