Hand of Blood

After being wound around a small alley way that lead out behind Jays house, bringing us out onto a small car park behind the collection of houses, I found myself standing in front of a huge, navy blue tour bus, with an excitable Kayla nearly jumping in joy beside me. Its size made me wonder how I ever survived sleeping in a caravan as a child, when we used to go on holiday for a few weeks. This thing had to be twice as big, if not more.

"Come on!" Kayla whined, tugging at my hand as she started towards the bus doors. I shook my state of shock from my head at the towering bus before me, and allowed her to drag me over to the side of the bus. She let go of my hand to tug hard on the doors, and once it had flown open she took no hesitations before launching herself up the stairs and into the dark interior. After a moment of caution, and somewhat confusion, I slowly stepped up and followed her inside.

I made my way through a cramped hall, passing the drivers compartment, before I stepped out into a well lit, pretty spacious room. Matt and Padge were sitting on a sofa that was set against the right side, watching with amused expressions as Kayla pranced around the space. As her eyes settled on me, a wide grin spread across her face.

"Finally!'" Kayla cried looking a little flustered, "This, is the front lounge," she announced, waving her arms around and signalling to random things in the room. I glanced down to Matt and Padge, as they shared a wide-eyed glance, and couldn't help but laugh at them. It appeared Kayla was being more chirpy than usual. Was that my fault, or the buses?

Kayla turned around to watch me as I tried to hold back my laughter, her expression confused. It soon cleared into a smile before she laughed softly herself, and bowed her head a little in what seemed like embarrassment. However, within the next second, her attention had snapped back up, and was resting on Padge.

"Padge, honey!" She cooed as she rushed over to him, heavily dropping onto his lap sideways and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I forgot you were there!" She said with a giggle, kissing his cheek. I stood and watched with confusion as to what to do next, as I made my eyes wander the room rather than rest on the inevitable make out session that would start within the next five seconds. My eyes fell back onto Matt for second, as he rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest.

"I thought you said you were innocent," he said with a smirk in his voice, leaning his head back and glancing at the couple beside him.

Kayla quickly tore her attention away from Padge, and onto Matt behind her. "Innocent until proven guilty, Mattie. I thought you knew that?" She questioned, winking at him.

Matt laughed softly and shook his head, leaning forward and resting his hands on his knees, as if he was about to stand up. "So I take it I'm showing Bri around then?" He asked as he started moving in his seat. Kayla quickly jumped up, her hands resting on her hips as she turned and scowled at Matt.

"No. I'm doing the guided tour!" She said stubbornly, her eyes narrowing at Matt threateningly.

Matt sighed and leaned back on the sofa. "Get on with it then," he said softly, shaking his head.

Kayla turned back to me, a bright smile claiming her face once more. "So yeah. Front lounge. Pretty self explanatory, right?" She asked, an air of disappointment about her. I nodded in agreement before she grabbed my hand once more, leading me onwards through the bus. I glanced over my shoulder as I heard Matt call my name.

"Careful! Kay's a bomb waiting to explode," Matt said with a grin. Kayla turned around with a childish glare, sticking her tongue out at Matt before turning away again. I smiled at Matt in return for his comment as I realised that this was just Kayla. She was an excitable, friendly, loud, and mood-swinging kind of girl. The kind of person that would never do you any harm, unless you really pissed her off. She reminded me of those ADD kids you meet that get high on candy or sugary snacks. I had learnt before that coffee was a no go area, too.

"This would be the kitchen area!" Kayla announced suddenly, letting go of my hand again. I glanced around to find it was a decent size area, considering we were inside a bus, kitted out with a few cupboards, a sink, and a microwave. On the opposite wall to the work top, there was a table with enough room for four people to fit comfortably around it on the plush sofa-like seats, and probably room for six at a squeeze. I nodded simply before turning back to Kayla.

"Oh! The fridge is under there," she added with a smile, pointing to what looked like a cupboard beside the sink.

I raised an eyebrow as I nodded again. "Right..." I trailed off, taking in all the information. Though why I was exactly, I wasn't sure. I was still a little lost to why I was getting this 'guided tour' in the first place, or why this bus was even here. Were they just planning to spend a lot of time in it?

"Next is the bunk area..." Kayla started, as I realised she had walked on and left me behind. I quickly caught up with her as I stepped into a narrow walkway between the bunks, which I doubted would allow two people to walk through, side by side, at the same time.

"I'm not certain what the arrangements are yet," she added, "I think that's mine and Padge's, and under ours is Jay's," she explained, pointing to the bunks on my left. "Thats probably Moose's and then above that is Matt's," she continued, turning to the right. "Well, that's how it usually goes..." She said thoughtfully. I simply nodded once more as she smiled at me brightly, flicking her hair away from her eyes again. She then spun on her heels and took a few more steps onwards.

"Thats the bathroom. Its not huge but its usable," Kayla added with a hint of distaste in her tone, pointing to a door on the right, just after the bunks. "And now, for the Grand Finale..." She said, turning to look at me with a devilish, toothy grin. I raised an eyebrow as she walked completely out of the narrow walkway, and stopped at a door, bouncing on her toes again. I heard her giggle lightly to herself before pushing the door open and striding in.

I followed after her to find it opened out into a space larger than any other part of the bus. It was equipped with a sofa that curved around the entire exterior of the room, a TV built into the front wall, and numerous other electronics plugged into the wall. There was also a bass guitar leaning against one of the sofas, leading me to the conclusion that Jay had obviously done his own expecting. All that aside, this room was pretty amazing.

"Wow," I stated, a little dumbstruck as my eyes settled on a stereo system that was also built into one of the walls. This place had more technology than my whole house did, honestly.

Kayla nodded, her grin still fixed on her face. "Exactly! I love this place," she said happily as she reached across to a switch on the wall. The lights instantly dimmed, and rose in brightness again. This place was definitely cooler than my house. "This is the best space on the bus, always," Kayla added as she turned back to me, scooting past me and back out the door. I watched her leave, before taking another glance around the room. This also managed to beat my holiday caravan, no doubt.

After a moment I wandered back into the lounge area, where I now found all of the guys, and Kayla. Jay was standing up, leaning against the kitchen worktops, Kayla was back on Padge's lap, and Moose was on the sofa beside Matt. I moved over and squashed myself onto the edge of the seat beside him, before glancing around at the group as they all made small talk. I frowned a little as I was bored of being confused anymore.

"Uhm, one question, " I announced, causing everyone to turn and look at me. "... Whats with the bus, anyway?"

I received five blank stares from the other people in the room, before Jay was the first one to react, folding his arms across his chest as he glanced away. "Jesus, Kay. You give her a guided tour, but don't even tell her what shes been guided for?" Jay said with laughter in his tone.

Kayla pouted and looked over at him with a scowl. "Well I thought she knew!" She cried, trying to defend herself.

Matt shook his head and leaned forward on the sofa, glancing around Moose to look directly at me. "Okay," he said with a smile. "Basically, we're going on tour at the end of the month," he said simply.

I paused as I glanced around at all the guys, before nodding. They're a band. They tour. That's what they do. Another part of that teenage dream; moving around, seeing the world. I turned back to Matt and frowned a little. "But why do you have the bus now, then?" I asked, confused as to why they would have a tour bus a whole month before a tour started.

"Lets just say we're on good terms with the bus company," Moose answered with a grin, causing my attention to fall onto him. I pulled a face in confusion and he inclined his head to Matt behind him. A smile crept on my lips as I understood what they meant.

"A rock star with connections with buses," Kayla teased, sitting back from Padge to glance at me, as the guys held back their amusement "Now, honey, that's the type of guy you need to marry!" She said, winking at me. Only then did the guys give into the humour, and laughter erupted through the small room. Even Matt seemed to find it funny.