Take This To Heart

I tapped my fingers impatiently on the plastic, round table. It was a strange type of plastic: hallow with little black flakes embedded in it. I had been waiting in the meal hall for about five minutes. The meal venue was a large, outside, shaded space squared off for the bands to eat and socialize. It had a small snack bar for ordering small snacks such as a pretzel or a bag of M&Ms, and a small fast food grill adjoining it. Two soda machines were at the far wall, one bearing the colorful notice of: OUT OF ORDER. The area was closed off to the public, being in the outer edges of the tour buses' parking lot and surrounded with a white fencing. The door was one of those picketed gates like when you're about to enter a swimming area, which might have been acceptable…if there was a pool nearby. But there wasn't.

The air was stifling and you simply wished the picket gate lead to an unheated, ice cold pool. The roof –just built for shading- was full of twirling fans that did little good in the open room. I tried fanning myself with my hand, but it just seemed to push hot air into my face.

The inconvenience of the location didn't seem to be affecting anyone from gathering there, though, because it was packed with unfamiliar-familiar faces. You know? Those people you know by name because you secretly worshiped their music, but they really don't know you?

To one corner I thought I spotted Pierre Bouvier and Sébastien Lefebvre of Simple Plan and in another I swore I saw Hailey Williams of Paramore. I saw another guy glancing at me a few times before turning back to his group of friends and chatting to them.

I started drawing symbols with my fingertips on the table. I sighed and glanced at my phone and took a sip from the water bottle I'd been hanging onto all day. I'd now been waiting ten minutes. I stood up to leave and the guy that had been glancing over at me called out to me. "Hey! Dude with the CREW shirt." At that moment, I decided I was getting PHOENIX ENVY printed on a T-shirt with big, bright letters. Okay, maybe not bright…but you get the jist.

I turned and gave a small smile. I immediately recognized him. Devil Wears Prada guitarist. The one that had helped Jenna-Bee on the stage. He waved me over and grabbed an empty chair from the table beside him, sliding it into place. I sat in it on edge. I was nervous and tense around new people.

"So you're with Zack and his band?" He took a sip of the coke in his hand.

I nodded, scared of my own words. What if I said something stupid? He was, in fact, way older than me. I'm guessing early twenties. "My name's Phoenix Envy. Alex –the singer- he's my guardian now." I whispered out. Everyone at the table was straining to here me.

The guy looked taken aback. "Guardian? Is he your brother?" Then at the last moment, he added in, "I'm Jeremy."

I shook my head. "He adopted me." It was clear that everyone here wasn't accustom to meeting up with new people, seeing as how he almost forgot to introduce himself.

Another guy, one with black hair and snake bites raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Like…adopted-adopted? Where he has papers and all that kinda stuff? Were you're living with him?" He sounded suspicious.

I grinned and nodded. Snakebites looked to his left at a guy with dark, long, brown hair and a beanie on. "That guy's young."

Beanie nodded.

I sat and soundlessly tapped my foot against the floor. I was so jumpy and ready to get out there. The tension in me was growing and I jumped when someone put a hand on my shoulder. A few people at the table laughed, amused at my anxiousness. I turned, quickly, to see who had humiliated me in front of the crowd. It was Chris.

He smiled. "Hey. Make new friends?"

I gave a weak smile and attempted to nod. He laughed. I glared. Apologizing and seeing my hurt look, he sauntered over to the grill and ordered a veggie burger. In ten minutes he returned and pulled up a chair as I answered simple questions about the tour and how was my life before I came here. Chris saved me from the dreadful question of "What happened to your wrists?" when he returned.

I smiled at him. "Hey, Chris."

"Hi. I'm sorry I was late. A few fans spotted me. They were wandering back in this area and a few security guards had to hunt 'em down." He laughed. "You had to be there."

Then…my phone rung. I glanced at the screen. It was an unknown number. I picked it up. "Hello?"

There was crying. "Birdie. I'm lost. Come get me?" Emma. She was sniffling like crazy. And her voice shook.

I stood up immediately. "Emma. Stay there. Where are you? Keep talkin' hun." I covered the mouth piece with my hand and whispered.

"I gotta go. See you around?" Chris looked confused, but nodded anyway, taking a bite out of his veggie burger. I uncovered the mouthpiece and attempted to run out of the meal venue, but someone grabbed my arm. The guitarist.

"You need a ride? We've got a golf cart out there if you bus is far off." I nodded, eagerly and he stood up, running outside with me.

"Emma? You still there?" She was crying louder.

"No one's helping me, Birdie. I asked a guy to help me and he walked away!" She moaned.

I went rigid. "Don't talk to anyone, Emma." I told her, fearing the worst. "Stranger Danger, remember? If someone comes up to you and try to get you to go with them, you yell 'Help'. Okay?"

"Uh-huh." She muttered out weakly. We got in the golf cart and I pointed Jeremy the directions, pointing one way to tell him to turn here and another way to turn that way. We were going pretty fast on it and in about three minutes I was in front of my bus. I ran in, checking all the bunks and everything, but it was empty. When I turned around, Jeremy was standing in the middle of the bus, on his own phone, asking of the whereabouts of ATL. He shut his phone and jacked his thumb towards the door. "C'mon."

I did as he was told, ran out towards the golf cart again. When he got in, he slammed the pedal down, making it go faster than last time. Soon we were in front of another bus and low and behold, there sat Jack, Alex, and Zack at the picnic table, talking to some other guys. Alex spotted me first.

"Hey Envy. Where's the fire?" He smiled, but I didn't return it.

"You've gotta call Mona! Emma's lost. She's talking to me now." I shouted in one breath.

Zack took out his phone and gave it to Alex who immediately started dialing. He put it one speaker so everyone could talk to her. A distressed sounding Mona picked up the phone.

"Hello?" She asked. "Emma? Is that you?"

"It's us." Jack said. "Phoenix got a call from Emma." I started relaying information from Emma to Jack who then gave it to Mona. Emma was in the middle of describing where she was at when a recorded voice clearly stated something about entering more money or the call would end in a minute.

I panicked. "Emma?! Do you have any more quarters?"

Silence. Then a timid, "No."

My lower lip started trembling. "Alright Em. Now listen to me. The call's going to end in a moment. You'll hear a dial tone and we won't be able to talk anymore, but-"

"-I don't want you to stop talking-"

"-I know. I know. Listen to me. Stay where you are. Remember: Stranger Danger. If some guy comes up to you that’s not a policeman, you scream "Help!" as loud as you can, got it?"

"Got it. Birdie, when do I get to see you again?"

Silence. I didn't know how to answer that. I didn't know if I would ever see her again. But I had to answer her. Had to. I was wasting time.

"I'll see you when I see you, okay Emma? I love y-" The line went dead. I cursed. For a moment, I stared at my phone in shock until Jack carefully took it from my hands and closed it.

"She won't be able to call back until Mona gets her." He added quietly.

A hand was placed on my shoulder. I turned and shook the hand off. My thoughts were swirling in my head and I couldn't concentrate. My heart was pounding in my ears. I could feel it pumping in my veins. I felt lightheaded and in a moment of confusion and panic, I took an unsteady step in the direction of nowhere. It automatically led me to falling on my knees and Jack trying to help me back to my feet. It did no good because as soon as I was back on my feet a spotty darkness clouded my vision.