Pin-Up Paper Rockstars

"Nice breakfast choice, Jillian. You are a trooper!"

Jill made her way from her band's bus, which was parked parallel to Avenged's bus near the back entrance to the arena venue, and juggled her shower paraphernalia under one arm, her clean clothes under the other, and a bottle of Corona in one hand and bottle of orange juice and her cell in the other hand.

She turned around and walked backwards to face her passer-by, "at least I'm getting my daily dose of vitamin C, Brian" she then turned around again and continued across the pavement parking section and into the venue.

"Jillian, do you need some help?"

It was Kyle's grilfriend, Raychel''s cheery voice that offered assistance and she was going to take her up on that offer, but not for the reasons Raychel would assume.

"Yeah," Jill paused for a moment. "The guys really need help unloading all of the equipment. It's gotta be ready to set up the minute Avenged's stage is done."

She gestured towards Jill's arms. "I actually meant you, before you drop something."

"As long as it's not my beer, I'll be fine," Jill slipped around her to continue on down the hall to her band's dressing room. "The guys really could use your help though," she called over her shoulder, leaving Raychel standing in the middle of the hall, no doubt staring daggers in her direction.

Hell, even if Raychel didn't do as she suggested, she knew that someone would snatch up her ability to be useful. That was on thing with being on tour, you were never there for the ride, there was always something that you could be doing.

Jill pushed the large metal door to the dressing room open with her hip and found the room empty. She snatched the opportunity up immediately and set her drinks down on the sink counter along with her phone. She dug out all of her shower essentials and hopped in.

After her shower she felt like she could finally breathe again. For those twenty minutes she was free of the stress of the road and free of the stress of her band and their girlfriends. Venue's with showers were absolutely the favorite of any band on the road and she was no exception. Not only was the shower an attempt at maintaining hygiene, but it was the only place where you could truly be alone for a few minutes.

"Jillian, I am definitely useless when it comes to technical gear, so Dustan sent me to ask if you were almost done?"

Though shower peace was always definitely short lived.

She recognized Janelle's voice and new immediately that Dustan had probably given up trying to explain everything to his girlfriend. "Yeah, I'll be out in a few minutes. Wanna give Amber and Carla a hand with the merch?"

Janelle disappeared and Jill stepped out of the shower, reaching for her towel and wrapping it tightly around her body, tucking the ends in and reaching for her comb. She spritzed her hair with a detangling conditioner before combing through the mass then hurrying to get dressed.Today she was bound and determined to be comfy, relaxed, and calm, and that started with slipping into a pair of pink and black PJ pants, a white Sick Chick tank top, and some flip flops.

Her cell alerted her of a text from Dustan and she ignored it, throwing her towel over the bar of the shower curtain to dry, gathered up her clothes and shower stuff then moved quickly back to the bus. She had to get back inside the venue before Dustan came looking for her himself.

She dumped her stuff into her bunk, pulled the curtain closed and headed for the fridge. She grabbed for her cup in the cupboard and dumped a bottle of beer and the orange juice from a juice box into it then headed for the door again.

"Yo, Jillian,"

Zacky stopped her just as she was coming off the bus and he smiled. "My tattoo artist is flying in to do some work while we're on the road and I just wanted to see if you wanted to jump in on the tattooing action?"

"Oh absolutely," she grinned in response, stepping off the bus and making him take a step back as she closed the door. "I've been itching for a new one. Thanks."

"Awesome, I'll let him know," he patted her on the shoulder and continued on his way.

She jogged from the venue as carefully as she could to keep from spilling a drop. She passed the rest of the Avenged crew in the catering area and moved towards the back of the stage. She could hear her own band working to set up their own set and she longed for the day when they'd actually be able to hire a couple roadies for themselves.

"Hey, Jillian, wanna attach the banners to the stands and we'll haul them up here?"

She nodded at Ryan and moved out of the way of the stairs to allow Kyle and Dustan to haul pieces of his drum kit up onto the stage for assembly.

"You're gonna have to check out your gear too," Dustan muttered in passing as he lifted one of Ryan's bass drums a bit higher to see the steps beneath his feet. "I don't know how you get that mic to work half the time."

Jill groaned. She had known she was going to have to break down and buy another mic one day soon. This one had been taped up around the cord and the base, the top half of the micrphone itself twisted slightly and it was getting to the point where even holding it in a certain position wouldn't work anymore. She hated that the money was gonna have to come from her own pocket, but the band's credit card was always pushed to the max as it is, and she'd be damned if she was gonna stand out there like an idiot with a non-functioning mic. No, she thought, after tonight this one would retire.

She took a sip of her beer/juice mixture then set it aside to unfold their banners, and attach them to the square hollow plastic frames that would sit in front of the speakers while they played. After she had them ready to go, she grabbed the last cord from Dustan and Kyle's guitar case and stepped up onto the stage to help them out. She picked up Dustan's guitar and slung the black and white strap over her shoulder before plugging the cord into the bottom and stepping up towards his microphone stand, and his pedals that lay on the floor just to it's left.

She made sure everything was connected properly before strumming a few notes. The guys worked around and behind her while she picked out the beginning notes that closely resembled Lady GaGa's Bad Romance, which they'd attempted on more than one occasion at shows.

She stepped up to the mic, and in her girly, yet growly voice suddenly sang out, "want your bad romance." She then stepped back and played a bit more before leaning into the mic again, "I want your ugly, I want your disease, I want your everything as long as it's free, I want your love, love, love, love, I want your love."

She watched over her shoulder, surprised as Kyle picked up his guitar as well and beginning to chug it out with her. A moment later Ryan was behind his drum kit, what was assembled of it anyway, kicking out the beat with them.

Jill couldn't help but laugh as they were now drawing a crowd. The Avenged crew was gathering at the side of the stage, and other techs were watching from the sound booth situated out in the middle of the floor, while Carla and Cristal made their way past them towards the front of the stage, pretending to rock out.

Jill grinned into the microphone as she locked eyes with Rev, and remembered his lips on hers as she began singing from where she'd left off. "I want your drama, the touch of your hand, I want your leather studded kiss in the sand, I want your love, love, love, love, I want your love. You know that I want you, and you know that I need you, I want it bad, a bad romance."

Before she knew it, Trent was on his bass and Dustan was slipping his guitar from her body as she continued to belt out the chorus, turning the poppy dance tune into one even a hard core rock fan could enjoy.

"I want your bad romance," Carla giggled loudly from the floor after they finished the song to a chorus of clapping. "You look so damn sexy up there in those PJ pants, Jillian Court, it's ridiculous."

"I know," Jill winked and brushed her quickly drying hair back with one hand. "I'm definitely considering this for the show tonight."

"You'll have them all swooning," Carla grinned.

Cristal tucked her hands into her back pockets and looked up at Jill. "Are you guys gonna play that tonight?"

"I dunno," she glanced back at her band and they all shrugged. "We might, it'd be different because we usually cover Metallica's Fuel at some point," she answered for them before crouching down and jumping off the front of the stage. Carla and Cristal climbed over the fence and joined her before the three of them began walking around the side of the stage and too the back.

"That was pretty badass, Jillian," Johnny tipped his water bottle towards her and she smiled at the shorter tattooed man.

"Thank you," she mouthed and grabbed the drink she'd left at the side of the stage. Cristal headed up onto the stage to talk to her boyfriend, leaving Carla and Jill following Avenged through the back of the venue and out into the morning sunshine.

"So what else do we have to do?" Carla asked, looping her arms around Jill's left arm and falling into step with her.

"Umm," Jill wracked her brain for more technical jobs, but came up with none. The jobs however that still needed to be done, were the least desireable, but still necessary. "Well, I should go find a laundromat and do our clothes, because who knows when we'll be able to do them again."

Carla wrinkled her nose and Jill laughed, "disgusting, I know. But it's one of the shitty aspects of touring. You can't bring anything more than what will fit in your bag, and when you're on tour for like a year, believe me, you learn all the ins and outs. Venue's that don't have showers, you learn to find near-by gyms to go shower. You find laundromats, you buy dry shampoo and conditioner, bottles of hand sanitizer, and use the bathroom in as many gas stations as possible to avoid using the one on the bus."

"Oh how glamorous."

"Unfortunately, it's not a year long party," Jill admitted with a hint of sadness as they approached Sick Chick's bus.

"Hey," she called out to Matt and Zacky and Johnny before they disappeared into their bus, and they turned around to face her. "You guys want your laundry done? Or does one of you wanna come with us?"

Zacky laughed hysterically before stopping suddenly and turning serious. "Yeah right," he smirked. "If someone's offering to do laundry, we're game."

Jill rolled her eyes and glanced at her best friend. "I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry."

"Hey," Carla shrugged her shoulders before looking over at her with a grin. "I'm just interested in seeing what Matt's underwear preference is."

"Oh Jesus," Jill laughed and pulled away to punch the numbers into the keypad on the door. Carla went over to Avenged's bus to gather their laundry while Jill spent time picking up the laundry that belonged to her own band.

A mere twenty minutes later, with the help of someone who worked in the venue, they were in a cab with nearly two garbage bags full of clothes, on their way to the closet laundromat.

"Fans really have no idea how much their contributions to the tip jar at the merch booth really help bands out on the road," Jill zipped up the small zip lock baggie containing close to thirty dollars in change, and tucked it into her band's bag of laundry.

Carla nodded in recognition. "I really don't know how you guys even survive on the road."

Jill could not agree more. "Half the time I don't know how we do it either. I can't wait for the day when our tour rider can request anything we want, not just a case of beer, a bottle of whiskey and orange juice."

"Oh my god," Carla snorted, "no wonder you're so fuckin' skinny."

Jill shrugged. "We eat when we can afford it. Some stops are more profitable than others. Otherwise it all comes outta the band's pockets. And none of us have money to spare."

The backseat of the cab went silent suddenly. Jill played with the small rip in the thigh of her PJ pants while she waited for Carla to bring up something else, but she never did. She knew Carla liked to come on the road with them for a bit, but she loved going back to Detroit, to the comfort of her own home and relationship. But it wasn't going to be that way this time.

"Babe, I'm really sorry about you and Jake. You really miss him don't you?"

Carla turned to her with a saddened expression before agreeing somewhat. "I don't know how to be alone, Jill. I've never been alone. Jake and I have been together since highschool." She looked down at her hands which were linked together on her hap before looking over at her again. "I don't know how the hell you do it. On the road is the loneliest damn place ever."

That was the truth if she'd ever heard it. Honestly, she'd love to be like the guys - to have someone come and stay with her on the road, and then the ability to be able to go home to them instead of her cold, empty apartment. Jimmy, the little that'd she'd shared with him, was the closest she'd been to anyone in years. And it was nice to be able to have that connection to someone, especially someone who was in the same situation as her.

"It's hard." Jill bit her lower lip and tugged a string free from the small rip before brushing it to the floor of the car and turning her head to lock eyes with her friend, "but you are the strongest woman I know, Carla, and you do not need him to be the best version of yourself."

"I know," she replied with a soft smile. She was going to be okay, they both knew that. She just needed time.

"Plus," Jill smirked to lighten the mood, "M. Shadows is single, and I do believe he was eyeing you up last night."

"Yeah, right," Carla retorted with a laugh. "Restraining himself from knocking out the whiny chick was probably more like it."

"I'm serious. He stuck up for you, that's big."

Carla patted Jill's leg defiantly, "well then, work your magic for me."

Jill leaned into Carla heavily causing her to laugh. "Will do, bestest buddy."

A moment later they were pulling into the parking lot and the taxi driver took nearly ten dollars of their cash before they were even inside. Jill mentally figured out how many loads of laundry they were going to have to do everything in without tapping into the money that would get them back to the venue.

"Who's are these do you suppose?" Carla asked with a grin as she held up a pair of black silk boxers with kisses all over them.

"Mmm," Jill bit her bottom lip and contemplated it for a moment. "I'm gonna go with, Johnny."

"You think?" Carla looked them over once more before agreeing and tossing them into her washing machine. "You're probably right, looks like most of them prefer boxer briefs."

"They definitely help when you're playing life," Jill stuck up for them, "helps keep your pants on as well."

"Fair enough."

The girls worked quickly, loaded up several machines then stepped outside the front doors so Jill could have a smoke as they sat on the cement bench there, watching traffic go by.

"You really need to quit that shit," Carla protested of her smoking.

"I know," Jill turned her head slightlyand lit her cigarette before sitting down on the bench beside Carla. "I pretty much had, but it did not help that Brian and Zacky smoke too."

"Cause I'm sure one held you down and held your mouth closed around the cigarette while the other lit it," the sarcasm dripped from Carla's tongue and earned a playful punch from Jill.

"Well, they are kinky," she laughed lightly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Speaking of which," Carla turned her entire body towards Jill's, "tell me about that magazine photo shoot."

Oh hell, she thought as she blew the smoke out away from Carla. "What about it?"

"Oh come on, you were giving Rev the 'fuck me eyes', it was sooooo obvious."

Jill's cigarette nearly tumbled from her mouth as it gaped open. "I was not." she protested, aiming to fill her voice with conviction, when the truth of the matter was that she had been like Jello in Rev's hands. And when he'd kissed her, he'd nearly reduced her to a puddle at his feet.

"You were. Tell me you two hooked up after that."

"Okay," Jill tapped the end of her cigarette and sent the ashes to the ground. "Where is this coming from?"

"Janelle," Carla admitted finally. "Dustan told her, and now she's been talking about it non-stop."

"Fuckin' dickhead," Jill snarled. Dustan had done his fair share to stir up the waters so far on this tour, and he wasn't showing any signs of just laying off everything and enjoying himself.

"So is that a yes?" she prodded for more information.

"Yes, okay," Jill finally admitted, with a hint of relief at the fact that she was finally sharing this. "The sex was amazing and I have every intention, at some point on this tour, of repeating it."

"That's my girl," Carla announced triumphantly. "You need to get laid more often. You're a lil' too hostile to attract boys, I think they're scared of you. But hey, sex with Jimmy on a regular basis sounds even better to me."

"Oh my god," Jill laughed and stomped out her cigarette before standing up and stretching. "I'm going back inside, you're a bad influence on me. Next thing I know you'll be planning my wedding."

"Oh, do I ever call dibs on that," Carla jumped off of the bench and followed her back into the laundromat.