Lousy Truth

“Hey Quinn!” I turn to look over my shoulder, my luggage reluctantly coming to a stop. I wait for Kayla to catch up to me with a fake smile on my face. She still hasn't gotten it yet that just because Oli and I are over, doesn't mean we can go back to being friends just like that.

She waves one of her perfectly manicured hands at me before linking her free arm with my arm that's pulling my luggage. She starts chattering about how much she's wanted to see England before and how excited she is to meet the three other bands.

At the gate, I spot a couple vaguely familiar boys sitting in the corner. I pull away from Kayla and try not to rush over, hiding my desperation to escape her. The two guys look up as I get closer and one smiles brightly at me, the other gets a little crinkle in their brow.

“Hi, I'm Quinn. You're in This Providence, right?” I smile at them as I try to keep an eye on Kayla. She's over talking to Emily and Jon, so for now I'm safe.

“Yeah, I'm Dan Young and this is David Blaise.” The smiling one says in an accented voice and I remember that he's from Australia. David looks at me with some confusion in his eyes, but he smiles politely. I can't help but notice how blue his eyes are and how cute he is.

“I'm sorry, this is going to sound weird. But didn't we do a show with you like, two years ago?” I take a second look at the two again and something clicks.

“That was you guys? At the acoustic show? Huh... well times have changed...” I give them a little smile and Dan laughs while David smiles for real.

Dan offers me the seat next to him and we settle into the usual get to know each other talk. I can't help but notice the way David keeps looking at me. And when I feel like smiling in victory, I remind myself that I've sworn off boys for a while.

I'm going to England... I'm going to be closer to Oli. I freeze for a second, processing that realization that's hit me five times already but somehow I conveniently forget. And then I remember I've moved on. He hurt me, but the memories we made together will remain some of my favourite.

–

A hand shakes my shoulder and I slowly open my eyes. Ace smiles at me and points out the window that I'm next to. I lean closer, my breath swirling against the plastic until my nose touches it and I look down at the ground we're descending onto.

“England...” I breathe out in surprise. I've been packing and planning for this tour since I got back from Warped a month ago. It never really seemed real until this moment. I smile at nothing and hug Ace just cause.

He laughs a little and pats my head like he would a pet. I roll my eyes and grab my headphones that slipped off my ears in my doze. I watch the ground rise up to meet the plane and ignore the way my heart beat is getting faster.

–

Landing in London is crazy and confusing. There's so many people coming in and out of the airport, but it all kind of reminds me of being at JFK Airport. Dan and David have attached themselves to our group, the rest of the band flying out tomorrow from Seattle. Dan and David had flown out earlier to do a MTV recording before leaving for tour. Apparently our managers talked and booked us on the same flight and in the same hotel in England to give us a little more time to get to know each other. Which is nice, I guess.

We push through the crowds as soon as we get out of immigration and haphazardly collect our bags. Kayla's shrieking because her make up bag got routed into Southern Asia and it's going to take at least two weeks to catch up to us. I let out a giggle and barely survive the evil eye she gives me. David's laughing behind his hands as well. Jon grabs my arm and starts to drag me away from Ms. Drama Queen.

For some reason, my other hand latches onto David, pulling him and his bags along with us. As soon as we're out of ear shot, David breaks out into laughter, which sets me off. Jon mutters something about nutters just as we burst out of the doors and onto the English sidewalk. It's crowded here as well with cars, buses, and taxis lined up to take away and drop off people.

Jon finds an empty taxi and David helps load all our bags into the back. I sit in the back seat, smiling cause I have two great guys taking care of me. Their doors slam close and Jon leans forward to give the hotel address to the cabbie. I twist in the cracked leather seat and look out the back window, the boys having got the window seats.

With amazed eyes, I take in London, the feeling of being a tourist completely embodying me right now. David nudges me and points out different landmarks, having been here a few times already. He smiles calmly at my tourist questions.

“You know, for some reason, I feel really comfortable around you. Like I can trust you.” He smiles at my words, his blue eyes slightly dazzling me. “Although I don't know why, I mean we just met. And I don't trust too easily these days.” A look passed over his face and he nods.

“Yeah, I heard the gossip.” I turn forward away from the window and sink in the seat, quickly remembering what the tabloids said about Oli and I when they finally got their hands on our break up story. It was terrible.

David's hand touches mine on my knee and I look at him. I study him for a quick second, wondering where all these feelings of calm and comfortable have come from. I get over it and just accept it.

The cabbie drops us off at the hotel nearing the outskirts of London and I notice the three tour buses parked in the back parking lot. I want to run over and explore and claim the best, but I remind myself that I'm nineteen and it's time to start acting older.

Until David goes sprinting by me to start opening the doors. Jon sighs and nods to me and I race after him. I find him on the third bus, easily the best bus. We lock eyes and I get into a fighting stance.

He copies me and then blinks, standing up straight. “Would you really fight me for this bus?” He sounds surprised, but amused at the same time. I narrow my eyes and he gets back into his stance. In slow motion, I kick him as he slowly pretends to punch me. We fake fight for a minute until I'm standing over him, victorious.

“Agree to share?” he asks from the ground. I look down at him, smug with my victory.

“I'll think about it.” He gasps in fake shock and I start to laugh at the silliness of the moment. He grins at me as he reaches up a hand for help. I pull him to his feet, but I pull too hard. His five inches on me quickly dwarfs me and I end up falling backwards, my grip on his hand changing as I bring him down with me.

Laughing on the floor, I kick him for real. He whines but I just make fun of his height. We end up laughing even harder at this weird moment between us. David finally rolls off me and we look up at the mirrored ceiling from the comfy carpet.

“Dude, you are so weird. And dorky. Very, very dorky.” I use the mirror to find and poke his stomach. He laughs some more and turns his head to look at me.

“You're just as bad, if not worse.” I continue looking up at the mirror, smiling because something tells me that this tour is gonna be different.