The Beginning of the End

After what seemed to be five minutes, I woke up. I didn't realize I had fallen asleep in Frank's bunk. When I woke up though, he wasn't sitting there.

Ray shook my shoulders again and called my name. I slapped his hands away and groaned. "What?" I yawned.

"Finally, you're awake! We're here and they're having a welcoming party to all the bands on Warped. I thought you might be hungry," Ray explained very quickly, looking through my suitcase.

I sat up and scratched my arm. "Whoa, hey, hey! Why are you digging through my things?!" I screamed, punching the middle of his back.

"Ouch woman! I'm trying to find the MCR shirt I gave you this morning before we left!" he moaned, rubbing his back.

"What for?" I seethed, crossing my arms across my chest as Ray stood up and looked down at me.

"We're trying to promote ourselves smarty," he sighed, flicking my nose.

"I'm already wearing it."

He looked at my shirt and shut his eyes. "Wow, I'm smart. Okay, come on. I'm hungry!"

He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the bus. I looked around at the desolate area. In honesty, it wasn't that bad. There were stages around, buses parked as fences, metal fences themselves, tables and chairs, and a huge tent sitting on a dirt ground.

I didn't know what I was expecting when I found out we'd have to set up the stages and musical equipment at different cities, take them down, pack them away, go to the next destination, and re-build everything. Maybe I was a little naive and thought these concert arenas would look expensive.

The closer we walked towards the huge tent, the louder the volume became. I grabbed Ray's arm and squeezed it. He gave me his usual shy reassuring smile. I wished that worked right now.

We walked into the entrance, the aroma of barbequed food and alcohol hit my nose like a wake-up call. My stomach began to growl viciously at my thought of grilled chicken. I hit my stomach a little to calm down the noises.

Ray continued to pull me past groups of people—guys. They all smiled at me when I passed by them. Well, that was plain awkward.

Another thing I noticed was the fact there weren't any other girls here. Didn't Mikey tell me that some of the people in bands brought their girlfriends or wives with them? If what he said was true, where are they?!

I don't like being the minority here! I hung around with guys back home. I thought this would be new scenery, an opportune chance for me to make friends with new people. This is going to be lonely.

When I spotted Gerard, I released my grip from Ray's arm and ran over to him. He saw me approaching and placed his red plastic cup on the table. I grinned and flew into his arms, inhaling his scent. He smelled so wonderful and it felt like years since I had seen him. I looked up into his eyes and saw such happiness in them.

He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. I didn't let the kiss linger as I took dominance.

I heard a cough from behind us. I pulled away and blushed into Gerard's chest.

"Uh, yeah," he coughed. "Sorry, got caught up in the moment."

"Don't sweat it, but when did you plan to introduce me to your girlfriend?"

I blushed and took a quick peek at the person talking to Gerard. The man had shoulder length black hair, similar to Gerard's hair. He was of average height and average build. He had stubble on his chin though. That is not attractive.

"Sorry, Bert. Bert this is my girlfriend Lilly, Lilly that is one of my new friends, Bert," Gerard explained, re-taking the red cup.

I smiled and shook Bert's hand.

"You're pretty," he complimented. "Too pretty to be a groupie."

"Thank you?" I asked rather than stated.

Bert chuckled and smiled at me again. "She has a cute personality."