She'll Be A Secret You Can Keep-Jack Barakat

“I can’t believe I got up at five in the morning,” Kennedy whined. I heard him banging his head lightly against the window of the van.

“Cheer up, man," John said from the driver's seat.
“Tour’s not gonna be that bad.”

“I didnt know there was a five in the morning until today," he continued. I could imagine John shaking his head and doing that little chuckle he always did as he drove down the road to Garret's house. "if Garret is so much as smiling when he gets in this van, I may kill him."

“I’m not letting you kill any of us, Kenny."

“Who said I was asking for permission?" I surpressed a small giggle, quickly covering my mouth to keep me quiet when Pat and Jared asked, 'did you hear that?'
 I couldn't let my brother know I had snuck on tour-not until we were out of Arizona, atleast. I buried myself further into the sleeping bag I was inside of in the trunk as we parked in front of Garret's house.

The side door of the van slid open, Garret's voice booming. “Morning, Boys!" he said happily, walking over to the back of the van. I shut my eyes tightly as the back door opened. 'Ow!" I yelled as one of Garret's bags hit the sleeping bag, slamming me in my chest.
The sleeping bag was slowly zipped open, a confused Garret looking down at me.
"Lexie?" I threw a hand over his mouth, using my free hand to pull him down by the hair so we were face to face. I could hear the boys talking loudly about something in the front of the van, so the coast was clear.
"Garret," I whispered, "whatever you do, do not tell my brother I'm back here."
"I won't, I won't, but uh, why exactly are you bak there?"
"long story," I sighed, rolling my eyes. "I jut really needed to get away." he nodded, "so you're gonna live in a sleeping bag, in the back of a van, without food, for the duration of Warped Tour." he eyed me skeptically, breaking out in a goofy grin. "I gotta say, O'Callaghan, genius plan."
"shuddup," I groaned. "I'll come put eventually, it'll just be once we're out of the state and John isn't able to ship me back."
"Yo, everything alright back there?" John called from the drivers seat, "we gotta get mving if we want to be in Cali by tomorrow!"
I eyed Garret. "yeah man, just trying to get everything to fit." he lied cooly, giving me a little wink.
He laughed and ruffled my long brown hair. "you're a weird one, Lexie O'Callaghan." he whispered. 
"and you're gonna blow my cover, Garret Nickelson." I retorted, "Now zip me back up and say nothing to the boys."
He nodded and quickly zipped my sleeping bag shut, chuckling to himself as he climbed in the backseat.

"Freedom!" Garret yelled excitedly, "The Warped Tour is calling us!"

“Oh, we are going to have so much fun on tour,” Jared said.

The boys continued to chatter excitedly for the next hour or so. I stifled a little yawn and found a comfortable position in the trunk. I had woken up at roughly 3 am to hide myself in the van, so I was obviously a little tired. My eyes fluttered close, the engine of the van lulling me to sleep.
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"how did she manage to get back there without any of us noticing?" Pat whispered.  I stayed still, keeping my eyes shut. I knew immediately what was going on, and if Garret had blown my cover, I was prepared to kill him.
"don't know, but John's about to blow a fuse." Garret answered. I felt a gentle hand shake my shoulders. "lex," he whispered, shaking me a little rougher now. "Lexie, wake up."
I groaned and rubbed my eyes, looking up at Garret and Pat. I sat up and stretched, realizing I was in the backseat of the van now instead
Of the trunk. "Who found me." I demanded, crossing my arms.
"Kenny." they responded in unison.
"Gonna kill him," I muttered under my breath. 
I looked out the window of the van. We were at a gas station, and John was in a heated conversation on his phone.
"are we out of Arizona?" I asked hopefully.
"Nevada," Pat replied, allowing me to breathe a small sigh of relief. John hung up his phone, walking over to me.
He crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. He was pissed.
"heeey, big brother," I smiled sweetly.
"explain. Now." he demanded. 
"I love you?" I tried. He cleared his throat, giving me a, 'I'm not fucking around,' look.
"Mom and I got in a fight, okay?" I buried my face in my hands, letting a tear slide down my cheek. John's face immediately softened. He sat down next to me, wrapping a protective arm around my shoulder.
"I have nowhere else to go, Johnny." I whispered.
He stared off into space and nodded slowly. We stayed like this for a few minutes, neither of us talking.
"do merch." he said suddenly. I jumped from the sudden noise, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow. "what?"
"do merch." he repeated. "be our merch girl for warped, we'll pay you enough so that you can buy all your books for college in the fall and do off-campus housing."
I smiled and hugged my big brother. 
"thank you, Johnny."
"I'm you're big brother," he shrugged nonchalantly, getting up and climbing into the driver's seat. "it's my job to watch out for you.
The rest of the band filed into the van as we began driving once again.
"all right!" Garret yelled excitedly, fist pumping the air. "it's a real party now that Baby Oh is coming with us!'
I chuckled and shook my head, staring out the window as the trees and nearby cars blurred together with the speed of the vehicle. This would definitely be a summer to remember.