Nancy Boy

When I woke up again, the bus’ bunkroom was pitch black, indicating nightfall. I also noticed the bus had stopped. A warm glow was shinning around the cracks of the door, as everyone chatted in the main room with the lights on.

I yawned and felt around for the string hanging off of the light in the middle of the bunkroom before my hand grasped it. I pulled it down, illuminating the cabin, and blinding myself for a moment. “Ugh,” I sighed slightly.

“Yeah, no shit,” I heard Bob say in a groggy tone.

“Sorry!” I apologized, hopping down from my bunk and hugging Bob (who was curled up in his own bunk) quickly, “wouldn’t want to break my neck though,” I said before shutting the light back off. “Night Bob.”

“’Night Ash,” he said as I opened the door to enter the main room, closing it tight behind me.

Everyone was eating vegetarian stir fry, with tofu, in the main room. Gee was sitting on the couch with Mikey and Kays and looked over the back of the couch at me, “Hey sis, you want some stir-fry?” he offered, holding up his plate, gesturing towards it with his fork.

“No thanks,” I said with a yawn. “I’m not hungry...” I paused for a moment in thought before stretching, “Gee, where are we?”

“We’re in the parking lot of the venue site...” he informed me.

I gave a nod, “Cool, I’m going to go for a walk for a bit, alright?”

“No!” Gee said in his protective voice. “No way, it’s dark and this is a new place... Who knows who could be out there!”

“Gee, I won’t leave the bus area, I promise...” I frowned.

“Gerard, let her go,” Frank said, poking his shoulder.

“Yeah, seriously,” Parker added. “She’s a big girl now, man.”

“I’ll scream if someone attacks me, I swear,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“I don’t like the idea of you going out so late!” Gee sighed, clearly frustrated that everyone was fighting him on this.

“Oh, come on, Gee, she’s going to be 18 in a few months... And dude, it’s only ten pm,” Mikey sighed. “Plus, I’m sure half the guys in the bands are hanging out in the lot anyhow, they know to look after our sister...”

Gerard sighed in defeat, “Fine, don’t be out too long though, please...”

“I won’t,” I promised before stepping off the bus.

Mikey was right, a lot of the guys were already out in the lot, partying. A roadie walked up to me and offered me a beer, “Hey there, come to celebrate.”

“Came to get air... my brother would kill me if I drank,” I sighed.

“Well, your brother’s not out here, is he?” she asked curiously, handing the beer to me. “I’m Jade,” she smiled. She had blonde hair and bright blue eyes, with a lip piercing and flames tattooed on her wrists. “Lucky for me, my brother is pretty cool about me drinking, since I’ll be 21 in under a year.”

I smiled, “Oh? Who’s your brother?”

“Chester,” she laughed rolling her eyes, and holding up her wrists, “if you couldn’t guess from the matching tattoes... I’ve always loved his though, so on my 18th birthday he paid for them.” I took a large sip of the beer as she asked, “Who’s your brother?”

“Well,” I laughed, “the super protective one is Gerard, the lenient one who gets Gee to let me have fun, is Mikey,” I smiled.

“Sweet, and now I see why you weren’t going to drink, but hey... as long as you keep control of yourself, a few beers won’t kill you,” she smiled before taking my arm and leading me toward the largest grouping of people. “Hey!” she yelled, “listen the fuck up!” Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over at us. “This is...”

“Ash,” I smiled.

“This is Ash, she’s Gerard and Mikey Way’s sister, be fucking nice to her because she’s rad and I’ll kick your fucking asses if you don’t...” she yelled before adding, “Proceed...”

Everyone went back to what they were doing, except for one person, who locked eyes with me and smiled. I stood dumbfounded for a moment as Brian Molko, of all people, seemed to be checking me out, before finding the nerve to give a slight wave back to him, finishing my beer quickly and turning away, feeling my cheeks grow warm.

Jade looked from me to Brian and back again before grinning, “Ooo,” she smiled.

“What?” I asked, reaching for another beer.

“You know what...” she smiled before looking behind me, “Bye...” she said quickly before walking off.

I watched her leave before raising a brow and taking a sip of my beer, “Great, now I’m left by--”

I felt someone tap on my shoulder lightly, I turned around to spot the dark haired boy in front of me, just as short as I was. “Hey,” he smiled, “I’m Brian...”

“I know...” I said dumbly, before mentally slapping my forehead, “I mean... I’m...I’m...”

“Ash?” he laughed.

I took another sip of my beer before sighing, “I think idiot would be the proper term... Hang out,” I said before finishing my beer as quick as possible. A minute later I felt a pretty damn good buzz, being a light weight when it came to beer. It was weird... Give me a pint of vodka, and I’m fine, give me two or three beers, and I’m gone. I smiled, “Okay, now I’m calm enough to hold a conversation with you,” I laughed.

“Why should you have been nervous?” he laughed, sitting crosslegged on the pavement, and patting a spot next to him.

I sat down, “Uh, cause I have posters of you on my walls?” Now I didn’t just mentally slap my head, I literally did. “I think that’s the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever said...”

He simply laughed it off, “It’s okay, I have posters of myself on my walls too,” he teased, trying to make me feel more at ease.

I laughed with him before the two of us started talking, about more stuff than I wouldn’t thought possible... I didn’t realize how long we’d been there until, suddenly, as the two of us laid on our backs, staring at the sky and talking, Gerard stood above me with a glare.

“Oh, hey,” Brian said, sitting up.

“Shut up...” he looked at me, “What the fuck is wrong with you, Ash?! You’ve been gone all night!”

“Sorry,” I mumbled as I suddenly realized the sun was starting to rise.

He blinked for a few minutes, “We’re you drinking!?”