Wonderful Life

Being on the road was my favorite way to spend my life in the world. It always brought back memories of the first time I ever went on the road with my brother and his friends. It provided a certain sense of freedom, yet it also had that sense of familial ties. My older brother, Brian, still felt the need to be his normal overprotective self. I didn't mind though because it gave me the feeling of safety and love. Brian wasn't the only one being overprotective either. Matt, Zacky, Johnny, the Berry brothers, and the rest of the roadies and crew were acting as if I'd drop dead at any minute.

Sometimes it got annoying, but most of the time it was tolerable. The dates that Kellan took me on before we all left town were absolutely wonderful. The girls helped me get ready and prepare for each date and I knew that the guys had made sure that Kellan never forgot their warning. Kellan acknowledged the warning, but I knew that he was getting a bit peeved about it as well.

I still hadn't heard from Gemma about the custody hearing. I wasn't sure if she received good news or not, but I was praying for good news. I didn't want to call her and push for information because that wasn't my style. I knew she'd tell me when she found out. The first show of the whole tour went well. Matt Berry had angry welts around his neck for being the hanging body a few times. Merchandise was selling well, which was good. I received part of the profits after each show, so my savings was starting to build again and that made me feel a lot better.

Every chance that Brian got he'd ask me to have a trial run with them, but I was still really iffy. I knew I was a good drummer, I mean Jimmy taught me a few tricks of his own so I knew that I could drum really well, but I wasn't sure if their fans would approve of me being their new drummer. I was still really iffy on the whole thing, but with each day on the road that decision was getting easier and easier to make. The more I was on the road; the more I wanted to stay on the road with them. The buzzing of my phone jolted me from my thoughts. I looked around for it, but couldn't find it. When I did, I had missed the call. It was from Kellan. I frowned. My phone started buzzing again.

"Hello," I answered.

"Hey, baby," he said

"How are you?" I asked.

"I'm doing alright. I miss you though," he said.

"I miss you too," I told him.

And I did miss him. Since he saved me that night and took care of me after the whole rape he's been by my side. I knew that he was just repaying me for saving his life, but I didn't care. He was sweet, caring, and very humorous. I was beginning to fall in love with him. I finished my conversation with Kellan. He was flying out to do a promotion for one of the Twilight movies that was in one of the same cities that we were performing in, so he was going to that show. I couldn't wait to see him. It's been at least three weeks since we left California.

"Colbie," my brother's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Yeah, Bri?" I asked.

"We've stopped for some food, you coming in with us?" he asked.

"Of course I am," I said, rolling my eyes at him.

He chuckled and then walked off of the bus. I followed him into the diner that the bus was parked out of. The one thing I didn't care for when I went on tour with my brother was the constant eating out, but the small kitchenette on the bus wasn't big enough to cook fully fledged healthy meals. Sometimes I'd by frozen dinners like Lean Cuisine and shit like that, but the guys would never eat them and they would always go bad, so I stopped doing that. I sat next to Zacky at the table as we waited for a waitress to come take our order.

"So, Kellan called. He said he's looking forward to coming to one of the shows," I said casually.

"That's good. We were thinking about one of the shows. Maybe he'd be up for something if that was okay with the both of you first," Brian said.

I narrowed my eyes. "What were you thinking?" I asked.

"Well, we wanted to know if you'd be interested in playing a small prank on Kellan," Matt said.

"How small?" I asked.

"We wanted to know if you'd like to be the person hanging at one of the shows," Zacky clarified.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yeah," Johnny said, clearing his throat a little.

I smirked. "Of course I would," I said, leaning forward and clasping my hands together.

The one thing I learned growing up around a lot of guys was that you had to learn to be able to pull pranks on the ones who were least expecting it. It was inevitable, considering that I had been the brunt of a lot of pranks started by Jimmy. They all smiled at me wide.

"Awesome. We figured at tonight's show would be the first one for you to do so that you got used to it and everything," Matt said.

"Can't wait," I said leaning back into my chair.

I really couldn't wait. I was looking forward to this prank and I had the perfect emotions to act off of as well. All I had to do was think about the one person who fucked my life over. That was still running through my mind, but it had become a lot easier to deal with. We ordered our food and ate it quickly because we were starting to run behind schedule a little bit. We piled back onto the bus and I walked towards the back room to have some privacy. I stopped by my bunk and grabbed the practice pad that I brought with me. I then proceeded towards the back room with a set of drumsticks already in my back pocket.

I placed my headphones in my ears and pressed play on my iPod. It was already set to repeat on one song. I still had to learn everything Jimmy had ever done in his lifetime. It was the only way that I'd ever feel comfortable taking over if presented with the opportunity again. I closed my eyes and just let the music flow through my veins as I started to practice the drum beats.

It was easy for me to get lost in the music. It was one of the reasons I enjoyed playing. I could be just as good at the guitar as well, but I preferred the drums. There was something about the drums that helped me deal with all my internal demons.

I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder squeeze. I stopped the music and looked up to see Brian standing there. I smiled at my brother and then stood up to give him a hug.

"You're really good you know," he said quietly.

"Thanks," I muttered.

I wouldn't be nearly half as good if Jimmy hadn't taught a few good pointers. He hugged me tightly.

"You know, I'm not going to let anything like that happen to you again," he said into my hair.

"I know that," I said.

I wouldn't let that happen to me again either because I took myself out of the equation of it ever happening again. I had a great support system and that's what mattered to me the most. The support was what I needed and I knew that they would continue to support me no matter what. My phone started ringing again so I pulled away from my brother and took my phone out of my pocket to see that Nikki was calling me. I smiled and answered the phone.

"We're at the venue by the way. Sound check is in two hours," he said.

I nodded my head in understanding knowing that I would need to be there in order to know when my cue would be to do the hanging deal at the beginning of the song. I talked with Nikki until I had to go. She was going to be coming out with Kellan and I filled her in on the prank and she promised that she'd make it believable. I stuffed my phone back into my pocket and left the bus to head into the venue.

The rehearsal went well. I was to be on the riser messing around with the rope and noose as if I was just another random employee. Then I'd drop suddenly as the first notes of Nightmare played. I was excited for the show tonight. The Berry brothers would handle the merchandise booth while I did my little stunt.