Love Is Hell

I’ve never been to Seattle.

Frankly, I’ve never been out of Arizona. So the fact that we drove through two different states in one day was pretty exciting for me. And finally when I saw the ‘Welcome to Washington’ sign, I was kind of freaking out. I was excited for sure, but I was also nervous. Especially after the phone calls I received earlier before.

About four hours after we left Arizona my phone started ringing. Thankfully I looked at the caller ID before answering because it was my mother. She must have finally realized that I was gone. I ignored her phone calls which wasn’t too hard seeing as she only called three times before giving up. My father then started calling. He got to six and then gave up as well. They left no messages or anything.

I went through the rest of the day without hearing from anyone back home. Then at five in the morning, when we were entering Washington, I got another call. This time it was Amy.

“Hello?” I mumbled tiredly into the phone. I was confused as to where I was, but then realized that I was in the back lounge of the bus. I must have fallen asleep watching TV the previous night.

“Thank god, your alive! Where the hell are you?” She exclaimed.

I sat up and looked around. Should I tell her? I didn’t exactly know how to say that I was currently driving to Seattle with eight guys I barely knew without sounding like I had gone completely insane.

“Wait, how did you even know I left?” I decided to dodge her question and ask instead. I was slightly confused because I didn’t remember ever telling her that I was leaving. I’m pretty sure I didn’t tell anyone.

“It’s all over the news! Some people are saying you ran away and others are saying that you were kidnapped!”

I shook my head in disbelief. I should have known that my mother would make a big deal out of this. Knowing her, she started the kidnapping rumors herself.

I sighed, “Well, I wasn’t kidnapped. I just needed to get away for a bit. But don’t worry, I’m fine.” I reassured her.

I heard Amy exhale on the other end, “Ok, as long as you’re safe. Just, wherever you are and whoever you’re with, be careful.”

I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. Just as we were about to hang up I remembered something though.

“Wait, Amy!” I quickly said before she hung up, “Please, don’t tell anyone that you talked to me or anything.”

She was silent for a minute, “Yeah, ok. But people are going to be looking for you everywhere Lorraine. Knowing your parents they’re going to send out a search party or something.”

“I know.” I sighed.

When we hung up I groaned and tossed my phone onto the couch. I was stupid to think that I could just get away without being noticed. By the end of the week the whole entire west coast will most likely know that I’m ‘missing’.

I got up off the couch and made my way to the front of the bus. There, Kennedy and John were watching TV. It was still only about 5:30 in the morning and everyone else was asleep, except for us three and the bus driver, Leon.

Leon was a cool guy. He was in his mid fifties and was a big biker guy. He had the long grey hair and beard, tattoos and was over six feet. He looked pretty intimidating at first, but he was a really nice guy. All the guys were saying how lucky we were to have gotten him. Apparently their last bus driver was mean and creepy.

“Oh hey, you’re up,” John said smiling as he glanced away from the TV.

“Yeah, couldn’t sleep.” I said as I sat next to him on the couch. They were watching ESPN. I wasn’t much of a sports person so I opted to looking out the window across from us instead of watching.

Washington was definitely a lot different than Arizona. It was a lot greener and there were more trees, but no cactuses. You could tell even in the dark that everything was fresh, unlike Arizona where it was dry. I found it to be a nice change.

I got up and went over to Leon and sat in the passenger seat. He was humming softly and when he noticed me sitting down he smiled.

“Hey darling!” he greeted me cheerfully.

I smiled in return, “Hey Leon.”

I sat in silence while he continued to hum.

“How much longer till we get there?” I finally asked.

He tapped the steering wheel, “Probably about another half hour or so.”

I nodded. We had been driving for almost 24 hours, so I was a bit anxious to get off the bus. I missed the fresh air and actual land under my feet. But I guess I would have to get used to being in the bus since we'll be doing a lot of traveling.

We sat in a comfortable silence until it was interrupted by a loud screeching.

Leon and I both jumped and I turned around to find John on top of Pat. They were rolling around on the floor, John obviously winning.

“Those crazy boys,” Leon said shaking his head. He turned towards me, “You better keep them in line.”

I laughed and nodded, “I’ll try my best.”

There was more yelling. I sighed and got up. I walked over to Kennedy who was sitting on the couch. He was completely ignoring the wrestling boys on the ground, engrossed in the television as I down next to him.

“What are they doing?” I asked eyeing John and Pat.

Kennedy shrugged, “Pat ate John’s trail mix,” He turned towards me, “And no one eats John’s trail mix and gets away with it.”

He briefly looked down at the boys and then turned his attention back to the television.

“What is all the noise about?” Garrett whined as he walked into the front from the bunk area, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He looked down at Pat and John on the floor. Pat was now trying to bite John’s arm.

Garrett yawned, “Should have known,” He mumbled as he came over and sat down next to me.

“Oh! White Collar, I love this show!” Garrett exclaimed, suddenly more awake then before. He and Kennedy then began a conversation about the show.

I looked between Kennedy and Garrett and then down at John and Pat. I was slightly confused about Kennedy and Garrett’s nonchalant attitude towards the two guys on the floor. John and Pat were basically trying to kill each other and here they were acting as if this was a normal occurrence. I had a feeling that I was going to have to get used to this.

Finally, John and Pat stopped fighting and yelling. They both stood up and John grabbed his bag of trail mix and plopped down on the couch. Pat went over to the kitchen area and was going through the cabinets, most likely looking for other food.

By now everyone was starting to wake up. It would have been pretty hard to sleep through John and Pat’s wrestling match. I got up from the couch and walked over to the refrigerator. I took out the milk and then grabbed a box of Cheerios. I poured them into the bowl with the milk and sat down at the booth.

Tim and Jared were sitting across from me. Tim was typing on his laptop while Jared was resting his head on the table with his eyes closed.

“So,” I began after swallowing my Cheerios, “What’s on the agenda today for the boys?”

Tim looked up from his laptop, “I’m typing up the schedule now. We’re meeting at the venue with the other bands; they have a few interviews and then the show tonight at seven. It’s not too busy today.”

I nodded and took another spoonful of Cheerios. After finishing my cereal I decided to get changed since we were going to be arriving at the venue soon. I went to the closet where one of my bags was and picked out an outfit.

I quickly got changed in the tiny bathroom and did my makeup. When I was finished and heading back into the front lounge the guys were finally all wide awake and jumping around with excitement.

When the bus came to a complete stop in the parking lot of the venue, Pat pulled open the bus door and excitedly ran out. The rest of the guys followed behind, greeting the other bands that were already there. I wasn’t sure if I should follow them or not, so I awkwardly stood by the door.

“Hey,” Garrett stopped walking and turned around to me, “You coming?”

I nodded and hesitantly walked off the bus. He must have noticed my hesitation because he walked back over to me and smiled, “Don’t worry, everyone’s really nice. They’ll love you.” He reassured me.

I smiled and nodded and then followed him towards the venue.