‹ Prequel: Hello Fascination
Sequel: Lousy Truth ›
Status: G'night and goodbye.
Just Like You
Une.
The sun crests over the horizon and the world turns pink. The sunlight mingles with the remains of last night’s rain and the earth is still for a minute.
Taking a sip from my coffee cup, I lean back against the big bus that’s going to be my home for the next two months. The coffee’s slightly bitter taste starts to wake me up and I let out a sigh. I push off from the bus and look away from the sunrise to head for the door.
Walking up, I greet our driver, Larry. He’s about fifty, full of awesome crazy stories, and knows this country like the back of his hand. He nods to me before starting the engine. The rest stop we stayed at over night is almost empty, just the few all-night drivers stopping in for a cup of coffee in hopes to make it another mile. I grab a quick cup along with the tired and ragged drivers and head back to my cushy bus. Larry tells me we're about thirty minutes out from the venue in California.
My insides in a jumble, I take a seat at the little dining area. This is the biggest thing I’ve ever done. It’s so scary, yet so exciting at the same time. I can’t wait for it to start, but at the same time, I’m hoping for more time to get ready.
For the first time ever, I'm going to Warped Tour. And not just as one girl in the huge crowd, I was going as a singer on the main stage for the entire tour.
This whole entire year has been crazy. I was just another girl trying to make a career out of singing back in New York. One radio station picked up my single and suddenly, everything changed. I quickly got signed to Hopeless Records and I re-recorded my EP and some new songs for a full-length album. I toured a little around New England and the East Coast. Bbycakes Clothing sponsored me and my album actually sold pretty well. I shot a music video for my first single and MTV picked it up. Suddenly, my song was everywhere and my album was in demand. My single made it to number one on iTunes and I got in the top ten on the Billboard Charts.
Somehow, I managed to get a call from Warped Tour. I think my cousin had something to do with that, but I’m not really sure. All I know is that my first countrywide tour is Warped Tour. There are so many expectations and so much pressure. I’ve got one of my best friends, Emily, with me as my drummer. Another good friend, Kayla, is doing keyboard for me. Ace and Jon have taken the guitar and bass roles. I used to do it all on my own. Now all I have to do is sing, put on a good show, and look pretty.
The bus rumbles as the short distance is quickly eaten up. I watch as the bus changes a lane and heads closer to an exit. With a big gulp, I look away from the window and get up from the table. I head back into the bunks and peek into one of them. Emily is still sleeping and I grumble, wanting to talk to her.
I leave her alone and grab some clothes out of my suitcase. Walking into the bathroom, I take off my pajamas. Pulling on a gray tie-dye tank, I pull my long, wavy hair out from under it. I shiver at the cool air contact with my sides. The armholes extend down to the middle of my torso, my purple bra exposed just a little. I slip into the jeans I spent hours ripping up the way I like it. I quickly pull on some socks and shove my feet into my pink checkered Vans High Tops. I grab a purple beanie out of my suitcase and put it on. I bend down to look into my jewelry box and pull out a simple, multichain necklace. I leave in the lightening bolt earrings in my second ear piercing and put in some feather earrings into my first hole.
The bus slows to a stop as I’m applying foundation to my face. I quickly put on some black eyeliner and dark eye shadow. To finish it off, I add some red lipstick. As I finish applying it, Emily comes in yawning.
She mumbles a ‘morning’ before shooing me out. I exit and she closes the door behind me. Outside, Ace and Kayla are up and rifling through our well-stocked cabinets for breakfast foods.
“Where’s Jon?” I ask after we all exchange ‘good mornings’. Ace rolls his eyes and points back to the bunks. I go over to his and throw open the curtain, singing at the top of my lungs “Good Morning Baltimore” from Hairspray. Jon turns over and groans, but after I steal his blankets, I know he’ll get up. I head back over to Ace and Kayla, who are laughing at me. I smile wide until they start laughing even harder. Turning around, I see Jon steal the covers off my bunk, the one over him.
“Jonathan McCarthy!” I yell and he looks over at me, guilty.
“I just wanna sleep!” he protests as I stalk over to him, twirling his blankets into a weapon. I threaten him for a second before I tell him that we’re here. He jumps outta his bunk and carefully puts my blankets back to the way they were. I give him his blankets back as Emily exits the bathroom, dressed and ready.
“You ready for this?” Emily smiles, her blue eyes highlighted by black eyeliner. She’s wearing a Bbycakes shirt and some jean shorts. “Are you ready for your first ever Warped Tour?”
For the past month, the entire band has been teasing me for having never gone to Warped before. Even last year, when my cousin was on it for the entire tour, I didn’t go. Every summer since freshman year, I’ve always had plans I couldn’t break when the tour came to town, so I got used to not being able to go until I completely forgot about it for a while.
“Hell yes! I want to see the hott scenester boys!” I laugh and Emily giggles.
“Trust me, there’ll be plenty of them,” Emily’s the complete opposite from me. She’s gone to Warped ever summer since eighth grade. The others have been on and off over the years and they all say it’s something I can’t miss. We’ve been pouring over lists of all the bands who we’ll be touring with and picking out the ones we want to watch and the ones we want to be friends with.
After clipping our badges to our jeans, Emily and I head out to the parking lot, where many other buses and vans are parked. People are wandering about and many are talking to old friends. Warped Tour sometimes is the only time people see each other during the year, so it’s always a big party, according to Emily.
We head over for the set listing and I gulp when I see I’m in the middle of the day, right after Motion City Soundtrack and before Bring Me the Horizon.
“Oh man, I love Justin from MCS! I can’t wait to meet him. And Oli Sykes is a fox,” Emily says as we start wandering around. Luckily, we don’t have to worry about merch because Paul Griffiths designs all of our merch and is selling it at the Bbycakes booth. I’ll be going there everyday after my set to sign for a couple hours and hang out with Paul.
Some techs are at our trailer, going over our instruments and taking pictures of them so they won’t be confused with other bands. Because I don’t have anyone to tech for me, Warped offered some staff to help me out.
“Hi, I’m Quinn,” I introduce myself and they quickly introduce themselves as Mark and Tommy.
“Are you teching for any other bands?” I ask, a little confused how this all works.
“Just you, so you’ll be seeing a lot of us,” Tommy smiles at me. He’s tall, blonde, and blue eyed. I can tell by the way that his clothes sit on his body that he’s fit. His smile holds interest and I don’t hold my own interest back. Mark is shorter, with dark hair and thick rimmed glasses around brown eyes in the indie style that's so in right now.
“So where are you guys from?” I ask, wanting to know more about the people who’ll be handling our instruments.
“Denver,” Mark answers and Tommy tells me he’s from New York also. Deciding to trust them, I let them know that if they get tired of bunking with other miscellaneous techs that they can bunk with us. They both agree before heading off to grab their stuff.
“You’re so digging Tommy,” Emily nudges me and I smile a little.
“So what if I am? Nothing’s going to happen, we have to spend the whole summer with them. I wouldn’t do anything to make that awkward,” I tell her and she agrees, even though she looks after the two cute guys wistfully.
“Let’s look for guys outside of our little band?” I suggest and she readily agrees. Just then, a guy walks past and looks back at us. He’s got medium length dark hair, hazel-green eyes, and tattoos covering his arms. The corner of his lips lifts in interest and I smile back, letting him know he’s welcome to come over anytime. He chuckles before continuing to walk on.
“Quinn, that was Oli Sykes. I told you he was a fox,” Emily tells me and I smile, thinking about that gorgeous guy.
Taking a sip from my coffee cup, I lean back against the big bus that’s going to be my home for the next two months. The coffee’s slightly bitter taste starts to wake me up and I let out a sigh. I push off from the bus and look away from the sunrise to head for the door.
Walking up, I greet our driver, Larry. He’s about fifty, full of awesome crazy stories, and knows this country like the back of his hand. He nods to me before starting the engine. The rest stop we stayed at over night is almost empty, just the few all-night drivers stopping in for a cup of coffee in hopes to make it another mile. I grab a quick cup along with the tired and ragged drivers and head back to my cushy bus. Larry tells me we're about thirty minutes out from the venue in California.
My insides in a jumble, I take a seat at the little dining area. This is the biggest thing I’ve ever done. It’s so scary, yet so exciting at the same time. I can’t wait for it to start, but at the same time, I’m hoping for more time to get ready.
For the first time ever, I'm going to Warped Tour. And not just as one girl in the huge crowd, I was going as a singer on the main stage for the entire tour.
This whole entire year has been crazy. I was just another girl trying to make a career out of singing back in New York. One radio station picked up my single and suddenly, everything changed. I quickly got signed to Hopeless Records and I re-recorded my EP and some new songs for a full-length album. I toured a little around New England and the East Coast. Bbycakes Clothing sponsored me and my album actually sold pretty well. I shot a music video for my first single and MTV picked it up. Suddenly, my song was everywhere and my album was in demand. My single made it to number one on iTunes and I got in the top ten on the Billboard Charts.
Somehow, I managed to get a call from Warped Tour. I think my cousin had something to do with that, but I’m not really sure. All I know is that my first countrywide tour is Warped Tour. There are so many expectations and so much pressure. I’ve got one of my best friends, Emily, with me as my drummer. Another good friend, Kayla, is doing keyboard for me. Ace and Jon have taken the guitar and bass roles. I used to do it all on my own. Now all I have to do is sing, put on a good show, and look pretty.
The bus rumbles as the short distance is quickly eaten up. I watch as the bus changes a lane and heads closer to an exit. With a big gulp, I look away from the window and get up from the table. I head back into the bunks and peek into one of them. Emily is still sleeping and I grumble, wanting to talk to her.
I leave her alone and grab some clothes out of my suitcase. Walking into the bathroom, I take off my pajamas. Pulling on a gray tie-dye tank, I pull my long, wavy hair out from under it. I shiver at the cool air contact with my sides. The armholes extend down to the middle of my torso, my purple bra exposed just a little. I slip into the jeans I spent hours ripping up the way I like it. I quickly pull on some socks and shove my feet into my pink checkered Vans High Tops. I grab a purple beanie out of my suitcase and put it on. I bend down to look into my jewelry box and pull out a simple, multichain necklace. I leave in the lightening bolt earrings in my second ear piercing and put in some feather earrings into my first hole.
The bus slows to a stop as I’m applying foundation to my face. I quickly put on some black eyeliner and dark eye shadow. To finish it off, I add some red lipstick. As I finish applying it, Emily comes in yawning.
She mumbles a ‘morning’ before shooing me out. I exit and she closes the door behind me. Outside, Ace and Kayla are up and rifling through our well-stocked cabinets for breakfast foods.
“Where’s Jon?” I ask after we all exchange ‘good mornings’. Ace rolls his eyes and points back to the bunks. I go over to his and throw open the curtain, singing at the top of my lungs “Good Morning Baltimore” from Hairspray. Jon turns over and groans, but after I steal his blankets, I know he’ll get up. I head back over to Ace and Kayla, who are laughing at me. I smile wide until they start laughing even harder. Turning around, I see Jon steal the covers off my bunk, the one over him.
“Jonathan McCarthy!” I yell and he looks over at me, guilty.
“I just wanna sleep!” he protests as I stalk over to him, twirling his blankets into a weapon. I threaten him for a second before I tell him that we’re here. He jumps outta his bunk and carefully puts my blankets back to the way they were. I give him his blankets back as Emily exits the bathroom, dressed and ready.
“You ready for this?” Emily smiles, her blue eyes highlighted by black eyeliner. She’s wearing a Bbycakes shirt and some jean shorts. “Are you ready for your first ever Warped Tour?”
For the past month, the entire band has been teasing me for having never gone to Warped before. Even last year, when my cousin was on it for the entire tour, I didn’t go. Every summer since freshman year, I’ve always had plans I couldn’t break when the tour came to town, so I got used to not being able to go until I completely forgot about it for a while.
“Hell yes! I want to see the hott scenester boys!” I laugh and Emily giggles.
“Trust me, there’ll be plenty of them,” Emily’s the complete opposite from me. She’s gone to Warped ever summer since eighth grade. The others have been on and off over the years and they all say it’s something I can’t miss. We’ve been pouring over lists of all the bands who we’ll be touring with and picking out the ones we want to watch and the ones we want to be friends with.
After clipping our badges to our jeans, Emily and I head out to the parking lot, where many other buses and vans are parked. People are wandering about and many are talking to old friends. Warped Tour sometimes is the only time people see each other during the year, so it’s always a big party, according to Emily.
We head over for the set listing and I gulp when I see I’m in the middle of the day, right after Motion City Soundtrack and before Bring Me the Horizon.
“Oh man, I love Justin from MCS! I can’t wait to meet him. And Oli Sykes is a fox,” Emily says as we start wandering around. Luckily, we don’t have to worry about merch because Paul Griffiths designs all of our merch and is selling it at the Bbycakes booth. I’ll be going there everyday after my set to sign for a couple hours and hang out with Paul.
Some techs are at our trailer, going over our instruments and taking pictures of them so they won’t be confused with other bands. Because I don’t have anyone to tech for me, Warped offered some staff to help me out.
“Hi, I’m Quinn,” I introduce myself and they quickly introduce themselves as Mark and Tommy.
“Are you teching for any other bands?” I ask, a little confused how this all works.
“Just you, so you’ll be seeing a lot of us,” Tommy smiles at me. He’s tall, blonde, and blue eyed. I can tell by the way that his clothes sit on his body that he’s fit. His smile holds interest and I don’t hold my own interest back. Mark is shorter, with dark hair and thick rimmed glasses around brown eyes in the indie style that's so in right now.
“So where are you guys from?” I ask, wanting to know more about the people who’ll be handling our instruments.
“Denver,” Mark answers and Tommy tells me he’s from New York also. Deciding to trust them, I let them know that if they get tired of bunking with other miscellaneous techs that they can bunk with us. They both agree before heading off to grab their stuff.
“You’re so digging Tommy,” Emily nudges me and I smile a little.
“So what if I am? Nothing’s going to happen, we have to spend the whole summer with them. I wouldn’t do anything to make that awkward,” I tell her and she agrees, even though she looks after the two cute guys wistfully.
“Let’s look for guys outside of our little band?” I suggest and she readily agrees. Just then, a guy walks past and looks back at us. He’s got medium length dark hair, hazel-green eyes, and tattoos covering his arms. The corner of his lips lifts in interest and I smile back, letting him know he’s welcome to come over anytime. He chuckles before continuing to walk on.
“Quinn, that was Oli Sykes. I told you he was a fox,” Emily tells me and I smile, thinking about that gorgeous guy.