Dear Summer

Kinsley rolled over onto her left side, hoping it would be more comfortable than her right. It wasn’t. Kinsley kicked the side of the bus, trying to somehow create enough space for her to lay comfortably. She sat up in her seat, looking completely sleep deprived. Her wavy blonde hair had been decreased to a golden bird’s nest, and her grey eyes were red rimmed and watery.

She peeked over the bench seat to the one behind her where Abbey was bent into a contortionist-like pose. Kinsley poked Abbey in between her ribs, causing her friend to jump but not wake up. “Abs?” Kinsley whispered. Abbey pulled the covers over her head to try to inform Kinsley that she wasn’t interested in waking up. It only showed Kinsley that she was conscious. “Wake up, Abbey!” Kinsley shrieked.

Abbey darted up, glaring at Kinsley with her fierce hazel eyes. “What do you want?” she demanded.

Kinsley blinked innocently and opened her eyes wide to add to the puppy dog look. “You didn’t look comfy,” Kinsley said in a small voice.

Abbey sighed and relaxed her shoulders. “I couldn’t tell. I was sleeping.”

“Oh,” Kinsley looked to the ground with her sad eyes, then looked back up excitedly. “Well, you’re up now! We were going to wake up soon anyway,” she beamed.

Abbey covered her face with her pillow in frustration. “I don’t remember agreeing to that,” her mumbled voice said through the pillow.

Kinsley ran her fingers through her knotted hair. “Sure you do. We’re spending the day at Warped. We have to shower and stuff first, so get up.”

“I know I didn’t agree to that,” Abbey stretched her arms out and yawned. “Did you get any sleep last night, Kins?”

Kinsley shrugged and opened the side door of The Monster so that she could climb into the driver’s seat.

“Where are we going?” Abbey asked.

Kinsley pointed ahead, as if it were any indication as to where their destination was. “The first descent hotel we see.”

Abbey scratched her head in confusion. She thought Kinsley had said it was time to wake up. “Why?”

“I need a real shower. I feel disgusting.”

And without a word, Abbey agreed. She definitely felt Kinsley’s pain.

There was a Holiday Inn not too far for the site for Warped in that day. The suites at Holiday Inn weren’t that great, but for simply showering they would do just fine. Luckily, the suite they had gotten had two bathrooms: one with a full bath and one with only a shower.

Kinsley and Abbey exchanged looks and both ran for the master bath. With all of the working out Abbey usually did, she was definitely a faster runner than Kinsley.

The door slammed in front of Kinsley’s face, and she fell to the floor, leaning her head against the door. “Abbey, please let me use this bathroom,” she pleaded over the sound of running water.

Abbey opened the door and looked down at her friend. “You can have it next.”

The door shut again, and Kinsley pouted. “But I feel so yucky!”

Nothing.

Kinsley grabbed her toiletry bag and headed to the smaller bathroom. “I hate you,” she mumbled as she turned on the hot water. She stripped out of her baggy t-shirt and pajama shorts and breathed in the comforting steam. The water felt so good running against her back, it really helped her muscles after the first and last night of sleeping in The Monster. What had she been thinking? Maybe she really should start listening to Abbey’s protests more often. Even if she should, she probably wouldn’t.

When Kinsley exited the shower, the other bathroom door was still shut while flowery scented steam escaped from the crack under the door. The scent was very nice. Kinsley stretched out on the bed in the master room, and before she knew it, she had dozed off.

She woke up with a stinging pain on the side of her face and Abbey standing over her with a pillow. “That’s payback for the rude awakening earlier, my dear friend.”

Kinsley held her hand to her burning cheek. “Ouch, you did that with a pillow?”

Abbey smiled sleepily, and Kinsley realized that her friend looked like she was feeling even worse than herself. Kinsley chuckled. “What did you do last night, Abs?”

Abbey brushed her dark hair behind her left ear. “I don’t know. I drank. A lot.”

Kinsley laughed and rose to get both of them some coffee from the coffee maker in the room. It would have to do until they could get Starbucks on the way back to Warped.

Abbey hated the idea of going to Warped that day from the start. They were in Phoenix, and it had been incredibly hot outside. Her head was just starting to stop throbbing.

Kinsley was almost skipping as she and Abbey showed the guards their passes. She led the way to the blow up wall to find out when certain bands were playing Even though Kinsley could have texted one of the guys to find out when their set was, there were other bands that she and Abbey had been too busy hanging out or drinking through to actually catch the performance.

Kinsley scribbled down some times and beamed at her friend. “We have to do this right today. I want the full Warped experience just like everyone else here.”

Abbey laughed and pointed to the pass around her neck. “This is going to stop us from having that experience.”

Kinsley looked down and frowned. “Darn.”

“You’re not going to hang out with Kyle until Forever the Sickest Kid’s set?” Abbey raised an eyebrow at her friend.

Kinsley smiled and shook her head. “Nope. I miss you Abs. Today is about us. Well, the music. If it were about you, we wouldn’t be here.”

Abbey scoffed. “Isn’t that the truth.”

Through the entire first part of the day, Kinsley dragged Abbey from stage to stage, laughing as Abbey would wince at the sound of loud music. At least Kinsley was being gracious. She dragged Abbey to see Cobra Starship just for Abbey because she and Gabe were getting along so well and even snuck into the reverse daycare center for the air conditioning.

Abbey continued to fan herself off with a flyer even in the air-conditioned tent. “This weather is miserable, Kins. What were you thinking?” she whined.

Kinsley rolled her eyes and smiled. “I am so sorry that I’m trying to have a little bit of fun. Let’s go get sprayed with the hose or something, and if you’re still unhappy, we’ll just go tomorrow. I’m sure New Mexico will have better weather.”

Abbey tilted her head and looked questioningly at her friend. “Whatever you say.”

Kinsley grabbed a Water out of the cooler on their way out of the tent. A lady tried to inform them that they weren’t to leave the tent with the beverages they got in the tent, but Kinsley smiled kindly and left with the bottle anyway.

Once back in the sun, Kinsley dumped the water onto Abbey’s head. Abbey in return, reached for the bottle only to realize that it was empty.

Kinsley giggled. “You’re welcome!”

Abbey began chasing Kinsley through the lot, earning stares and glares from the fans there. Kinsley turned a corner and ran directly into someone, falling straight to the ground. She rubbed her head, and looked up.

The tall man standing in front of her burst into laughter.

“Shut up, Jack. You suck.” Kinsley shielded her eyes from the sun, then brushed herself off. Jack held out a hand, but she pushed it away and stuck out her tongue. “I don’t need your help. Besides, I wouldn’t accept help from someone that looks like you,” she said, referring to the fact that he was wearing strange clothes and a sombrero that halfway covered his face.

“It’s a disguise,” he defended as he crossed his arms.

Kinsley looked him over and glanced at the girl’s shorts he was wearing. “Dirty Mexican stripper?” she guessed.

Abbey pulled her off the ground with a roll of her eyes. “Hey, we Mexicans look nothing like that. And be nice to him, It’s not his fault you’re a klutz,” Abbey went on to hit Kinsley in the head with the water bottle that had been spilled on her.

Jack smiled and grabbed the bottle from Abbey, copying her actions. “Don’t you have such great friends, Kinsley?”

Kinsley had to jump to try to get the bottle from Jack, who raised it higher every time she tried. “You both suck.”

Jack threw the bottle on the ground and put both arms around Abbey and Kinsley’s shoulders. “Where to ladies?”

Abbey shrugged and Kinsley glanced around the area before her stomach grumbled. “Catering. I’m starved, aren’t you, Abs?”

Abbey looked down at her stomach. “Not really…”

“Food!” Jack yelled and took off with the girls toward catering. Free food was one of Jack’s favorite things. Food in general was Kinsley’s.

Kinsley and Jack got loads of food each. Abbey only grabbed a water, claiming that she really wasn’t hungry and had a protein only minutes before, which Kinsley didn’t recall, but dismissed anyway due to the fact that her hunger was consuming her.

Kinsley giggled as she watched Jack practically inhale his food. She tried to keep up with his pace, turning a simple meal into a race. Abbey grimaced as she watched the two. Why were two of the skinniest people she knew able to have such horrid dining habits and still be twigs?

Jack cleared his plate and concluded with a loud belch.

Both Kinsley and Abbey giggled. “That’s disgusting,” Abbey commented.

Kinsley was quiet for a moment, then erupted with a burp even louder than Jack’s own.

Jack nodded with a smile. “Impressive.”

“I swear, I don’t know you anymore, Kins,” Abbey laughed.

Jack rose from his seat after pulling out his cell phone. “I have to go find the guys, Our set starts soon.”

Both Abbey and Kinsley pouted and stood up with him.

“Let me at least escort you lovely ladies back to the Hurley stage so you can watch us fucking suck.” he linked arms with them and walked back towards the crowds where they passes Kyle Burns.

Kinsley turned and almost said something to him, but realized that he was with a couple fans. Kinsley knew that they were probably having the time of their lives hanging out with him, and she empathized. When she was in her early teens, she would have done anything to hang out with a guy from a band that actually looked like it was going somewhere.

Still, she thought, he could have at least acknowledge her existence. She hadn’t spoken to him since the day started, and usually he would start texting her as soon as he woke up.

Abbey and Jack both looked at Kinsley with concern. She just smiled at them and shrugged.

By the end of the day, the temperature had dropped and Abbey’s hangover had gone away. The music got better as the day went on because the musicians weren’t suffering from heat stroke anymore.

The crowds were starting to wear down so Abbey and Kinsley were able to find a decent tree to sit against. Abbey leaned back and sighed. “Today didn’t suck completely she smiled.”

Kinsley elbowed her and laughed. “You had fun.”

Abbey nodded. “I did. I’ve missed you lately, Kins.”

“Me too.” She forced Abbey into a side hug and laughed.

Abbey pulled out her phone and looked at the message she had received. “That Gaskarth is a freaking stalker.” Abbey said, sliding the phone back into her pocket.

Kinsley looked at her own phone. Still nothing from Kyle, but she had a message from Jack informing her that he was sure he’d just spotted Tom Cruise in Gym Class Heroes’ crowd. Kinsley laughed and replied to the text. It was a good day.