Never Regret

“Wake up it’s a beautiful evening! Wake up it’s a beautiful day!” Logan sang, dancing between the bunks as the bus stopped.

I giggled as JC’s fist shot out, catching Logan’s chiselled jaw.

“Bitch,” Logan cursed playfully.

There was no sound from Reece or Taylor yet. I poked my head out of my bunk, tearing open their curtain. Aww fast asleep. Logan seemed to want to change that, because he pulled out an airhorn. JC and I quickly scrambled out of our bunks and into the lounge area. Logan winked at us as we sat down on the sofas, JC resting his head on my shoulder.

“3...2...1...” I murmured.

Logan pressed the airhorn button, the loudest blaring noise sounding. Two shrieks and two thumps sounded, and we burst into laughter, Logan running out to join us. A couple of seconds later, Reece came out, holding his flattened mohican.

“Not cool,” he grunted, rearranging his hair to its original style.

Taylor followed soon, glaring at her brother.

“How comes JC gets to keep sleeping!” Taylor whined, grabbing a poptart as she rubbed her head.

“I’m not sleeping – I’m just taking a good look at my eyelids,” JC snickered.

Then Ron the bus driver appeared, looking tired.

“Righty-ho, we’re finally in New York, round the back of DecayDance Records main office. I’ll leave you to freshen up for a couple of minutes, but Pete wants to see you straight away,” Ron yawned.

“What time is it?” I asked curiously.

“Half 5. Perfect timing since we left at 8am,” Ron chuckled.

“Cool, thanks,” I nodded.

As Ron left the room, I stood up, JC dropping heavily onto the sofa. I giggled as he whined.

“I’m gonna change my tank top and put on more deodorant. Are you guys changing?” I asked, heading for the bunks.

“Nah, I smell okay,” Logan chuckled.

JC just grunted and Reece and Taylor didn’t reply. Suit themselves! I closed the curtains separating the bunk area, whipped off my white tank top, and threw it into my bunk. That could be dealt with later. It didn’t take me long to find a fresh black tank top, which matched my purple zebra skinny jeans easily. I already had on my dog tag necklace, my six ear piercings, my Monroe stud, my lip ring and my belly barbell, thick black eyeliner, silver eyeshadow, purple nail varnish, and a white studded belt, so I just slipped into my rainbow zebra stripe chucks and grabbed my phone and a sand scarf. With a quick roll of deodorant and my scarf thrown round my neck, I was ready!

“Let’s go!” I said cheerfully, teasing my hair to make it even bigger.

The five of us headed out of the small bus and round to the front of the big shiny building. As we walked in, the receptionist looked at us curiously.

“Never Regret?” Logan offered.

“Ah, yes, I’ll call Pete down. He’s been waiting for you,” the woman smiled.

I took JC’s hand, nervous butterflies filling my stomach. This was when it all became official. Our first tour. JC smiled down at me, winking his encouragement. When Pete finally arrived, I let go of JC’s hand, knowing I needed to calm myself down.

“Great to see you guys again! If you follow me upstairs, TAI and Cobra Starship are waiting in the conference room,” Pete grinned, flicking his black fringe out of his eyes.

We just nodded, silently following. I now knew that I wasn’t the only one exhausted and nervous by the lack of speech.

“What’s this pre-meeting about?” Logan finally asked.

“We’re just discussing the basic details, and you get to meet the other bands, seeing as you don’t know them yet. The Academy Is and Cobra Starship have known each other for years, so it’s just you lot they need to get to know,” Pete explained.

“Ah got it,” Logan nodded, yawning.

“Long trip, my bad,” Pete chuckled.

“It’s all cool, we’re here now, that’s what matters,” JC grinned.

I inhaled sharply as Pete’s hand reached for the door handle. It’s crunch time.

*

[Michael Guy Chislett]

I sat in Pete’s meeting room, sitting at a table surrounded by my bandmates and the members of Cobra Starship. We’d been waiting for our support band, Never Regret, for a little while now. I ran my hand through my longish messy dark blonde hair, yawning. Yup, I definitely wasn’t used to the travelling again yet. It’s the first of July today, and the sun is shining even though it’s gone 5pm, promising a damn good tour. Well, I hope it is. 6 months will be hell if it isn’t!

“So what do we know about Never Regret?” William asked randomly, scratching his brunette head.

“They’re from Detroit, a pop-punk band with an alternative edge. I’ve heard a couple of their singles, they’re pretty damn good,” Nate smiled.

“All guys?” Gabe asked, raising an eyebrow hopefully for the alternative.

I rolled my eyes, seeing some of the others do the same. No-one answered.

“Am I the only one that bothered to look them up?” Nate snickered.

“Looks like it,” Adam chuckled.

“Well, there’s three guys and 1 girl. They’re pretty young – the girl is 20 and the guys are 23, but they play as if they’ve been doing it their whole lives. They’re really secretive too,” Nate explained.

“Secretive?” Ryland frowned.

“Their name has a meaning, but no-one apart from them know what it is. They only party amongst themselves apparently, and I don’t think the girl parties at all, but they say that they’ve got their reasons. They’re totally serious about making music,” Nate laughed.

“The girl doesn’t party? That should be interesting,” Gabe smirked.

Then we heard voices, Pete’s in particular. They must be here! I found myself sitting up in my chair as the door opened, but froze as they walked in. As she walked in. Jesus Christ, that girl is beautiful. Almost, tragically beautiful. The most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, hands down. White blonde hair that doesn’t look fake, icy blue eyes, curves to die for...and a small smile that set me on fire. She had an edgy style that I hadn’t seen suited on a girl in a very long time. I had to get to know her, whether she doesn’t party or not. And I didn’t have to look around to know that I wasn’t the only guy affected.

“Alright guys and girls, we’re finally all here. Never Regret, meet The Academy Is...and Cobra Starship. Never Regret, you’d better introduce yourselves,” Pete smiled, taking a seat.

The five new people sat down in the vacant seats. The blonde girl sat directly opposite me, her blue eyes catching mine briefly. She smiled and nodded, before looking at a guy with short dark blonde hair. Woah, all three of those guys are seriously ripped – what’s up with that?

“Hey, I’m Logan, and I sing lead vocals and play rhythm guitar,” he introduced.

“I’m Reece and I play drums,” the bulky guy with the mohican smiled.

“I’m Taylor, I’m the merch girl,” the petite girl with brunette hair said cheerfully.

“I’m JC, and I play lead guitar and sing backing,” the guy next to the blonde girl introduced.

“And I’m Mackenzie, and I play bass guitar and sing backing,” she said warmly.

Mackenzie. Wow. What a beautiful name. And what an enchanting voice – soft, yet warm and inviting. Jeez, I’m starting to sound like a sap. I’ve known this girl for less than 5 minutes! Snap out of it Chizzy!

“I’ll say the names of everyone else to save time,” Pete said enthusiastically.

The people of Never Regret just nodded.

“Okay, we have Gabe, Alex, Ryland, Nate, Victoria, who make up Cobra Starship, and Mike, Andy, Michael, Adam and William, the boys of TAI,” Pete listed.

I just smiled at Mackenzie. I didn’t trust that anything comprehensible would come out of my mouth.

“Welcome to your first tour,” William said with a wide smile.

“We’re glad to be here,” the guy called Logan nodded.

I hoping that the reason he’s the only one talking is that they’re really tired. Pete said something earlier about a 9 hour journey? Ouch.

“Okay, the main reason I called you all up here a few days before the first show is to get you to all know each other before the tour starts. It’s going to be a fucking long time spent together and the sooner Never Regret get known to everyone the better. I’ve got big plans for you four,” Pete grinned.

“Sounds good,” JC chuckled.

Hmm, is that a French accent?

“Dude, where are you from?” Gabe blurted.

JC’s bandmates snickered, as did we.

“I’m originally from France, but I’ve lived in Detroit for 7 years now,” JC explained.

“What does JC stand for?” Victoria asked curiously.

“Jean-Christian,” JC blushed.

“You can kind of see why we call him JC,” Reece smirked, nudging his band mate teasingly.

Okay, they’re loosening up a bit now. This is good. Come on Mackenzie...

“We’re going to be playing shows in 30 cities, covering 29 states. I won’t bother to read them from my list, but I’ll get a copy put in each of your buses. It’s technically one show every 6 days, but depending on distance those days will be different. Never Regret don’t know how we work as much as the rest of you do, but on tour we’re a big fucking family. Everybody helps everybody and we all have a fucking good time. Isn’t that right?” Pete grinned.

“Damn right,” Gabe whooped, the rest of us cheering.

Never Regret just laughed. Oh wow, Mackenzie has an amazing laugh! Okay, I’m getting way ahead of myself now. Stay calm and relaxed, cool and collected. It’ll do no good to scare the new musicians away on the first day.

“Okay, any relevant questions?” Pete asked.

He meant Gabe. Poor guy really doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut and when not to.

“Are we gonna have the chance any time soon to food shop and shit? I can’t survive on Taylor’s fucking pop tarts,” Mackenzie asked with a small smirk.

“So you’re the sneaky bitch that’s been eating them today!” Taylor squealed.

“Suck it,” Mackenzie retorted.

Then she smiled innocently at Pete. Wow, she’s got an attitude, I’ll give her that.

“Yeah, you can stock up your buses tomorrow. The label will provide a small allowance for food every week, but seeing as we don’t know how much, or what, you guys eat, I can’t do much else,” Pete apologised.

“Don’t sweat it, that’s fine,” Logan smiled.

“Where’s the bathroom?” Taylor asked randomly.

“Just down the hall,” Pete chuckled.

Taylor grabbed Mackenzie’s hand, and I just caught the playful roll of eyes before the blonde beauty disappeared out the door. As soon as the door was closed, Logan cleared his throat.

“Can I just say something?” Logan said softly, but seriously.

“Sure,” Pete nodded.

The three remaining Never Regret members all looked at each other. What’s going on?

“We just want to warn you, if you’re interested in Mackenzie as more than a friend, to stay away from her,” Logan announced.

What the hell? I’m guessing I’m not the only one with a confused look on my face, because JC chuckled.

“We don’t mean it in a nasty way, it’s just that you’ll be wasting your time. Mack only cares about her career and her music – she won’t give anyone the time of day,” JC said with a smile.

“It’s just the way she’s been for the past 4 years,” Reece explained.

Logan elbowed Reece sharply in the ribs, earning a guilty expression from the drummer. What happened 4 years ago to make her like that?

“Don’t ask her why, just trust us. We thought you ought to know. We don’t like Mack hurt so we really don’t want to have to dislike any of you for causing it,” Logan said firmly.

“And Taylor’s mine,” Reece added.

JC snorted and Logan rolled his eyes.

“Well, uh, thanks. I’m sure we’ll keep that in mind,” Pete said awkwardly.

That really is mind-reassuring. Not.

“Never Regret are a family and we protect our own,” Logan chuckled.

“Anything else we should know?” William mused.

“We all swear like sailors? Apart from Taylor,” Reece shrugged.

“We all only eat chicken, no other meat,” Logan said with a small smile.

“And me, Mack and Reece socially smoke,” JC added with a grin.

“You’ll fit in with us then,” Andy laughed.

I’m just glad the tension had broken then, because Mackenzie walked back into the room, Taylor right behind.

“That’s the cleanest fucking bathroom I’ve ever seen,” Mackenzie grinned, sitting back down.

A chorus of chuckles and snorts rose, Mackenzie blushing slightly.

“Thanks. I think,” Pete chuckled.

“Don’t get used to it. A bus toilet gets rank quickly,” Gabe smirked.

“Charming,” Taylor grimaced.

“Gabe’s not lying, for once. So, I think we’ve covered all that needs to be covered. I’m going to finish up some last minute paperwork, so you guys can head back down to the buses to get ready for Angels and Kings?” Pete smiled.

“Angels and Kings?” Logan frowned.

“It’s the club that Pete owns,” I explained.

I blushed slightly as Mackenzie looked directly at me. Well, I guess it is the first time I’ve spoken and I do have an accent of my own.

“I’ll skip,” Mackenzie finally said.

What? No!

“Me too,” JC nodded.

I frowned slightly as Mackenzie smiled at the French guy gratefully. Is there something going on between them?

“I’m up for it,” Logan shrugged, Reece and Taylor nodding.

“Sure we can’t persuade you?” Pete frowned.

“I’m not a big drinker,” Mackenzie explained.

“Or partier,” Reece added.

“Or socialiser,” Taylor snickered.

“I’ve got a phone call to make tonight that I can’t miss,” Mackenzie corrected, smiling apologetically.

“Alright, if you’re sure. We’ll meet outside the buses at 10 tomorrow morning, and we’ll give you a tour of New York, seeing as none of you have been here, before going in for final rehearsal,” Pete explained.

“Sure thing,” JC nodded, smiling.

“Let’s get this party started!” Mike said cheerfully.

We all laughed, standing up. I’ma bit very disappointed that Mackenzie isn’t joining us tonight, but I’m sure they’ll be other night. I’ll make sure there are other nights. This is a 6 month tour, after all.