Growing Up Won't Bring Us Down

When the guys returned to the bus nearly an hour later it seemed strangely quiet. And plus Aaron sat outside the bus, smoking a cigarette that was held between his thin lips. Johnny’s nerves were instantly on edge. “Aaron?”

“Oh, hey mates,” Aaron greeted, his English accent making Jimmy’s eye twitch. He personally hated that accent; it reminded him of nails against a chalkboard.

“What are you doing outside?” Jimmy asked suspiciously. Matt walked onboard only to curse.

“What the fuck happened to our bus?!” Everyone, including Matt who popped his head back out, glared at Aaron. He held his hands up in defense.

“Marco went ballistic earlier. She kept throwing things around like she was looking for something. I ‘ad tried asking her what she was looking for, but she yelled at me. I finally decided to just leave her and hope she’d calm down eventually,” Aaron explained. Johnny sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Thank-you Aaron. Sorry she was such a trouble.”

“No problem guys. I hope she feels better.” With that he walked off to leave the five friends alone. Johnny looked over at the singer with a defeated expression.

“How bad it is?” Matt sighed, stepping off the bus.

“Hard to describe.” The bassist walked past Matt and headed up the steps. It looked like five tornadoes and an atom bomb had been in there. Cabinets stood open and a trail of clothes, blankets, and pillows were spilling out of the bunk room. Cans of food, boxes, and stuff from the bathroom was throw all over the floor. He dodged all the breakable things and headed into the bunk room.

“Marco Lee Seward!” Johnny bellowed. Everyone’s luggage was either thrown all over the floor or, even worse, the stuff inside the luggage was on the ground. He heard a sniffle from her bunk and stormed over. Marco was curled in a ball, hugging her knees to her chest. “Get out here right now young lady.”

“Go away!” She sobbed, covering her ears with her hands. Johnny gabbed her arms and turned her around, forcing her to sit on the edge of her bunk. Her hair was almost falling out of her ponytail and her cheeks were streaked with dry tears. She sniffled again, trying to stop her nose from running.

“What the hell happened?” Johnny demanded. The young girl stayed silent, staying at her Vans. Johnny groaned, letting go of her and running a hand through his hair. “Marco, I’m speaking to you. What the hell happened?”

“I can’t find Mr. Fluffs!” Marco shouted. Johnny blinked in confusion at the teenager who was beginning to sob all over again.

“Who the hell is Mr. Fluffs?”

“My bear!” Johnny wanted to ask ‘what bear’ but Marco continued to ramble on. “I left him on my pillow. I came back and put Balla in the sink so I could go find a container for him to stay in. Then Aaron came back. He asked me what I was up to and I didn’t tell him ‘cause I didn’t want him to make me toss him out. So I went to Bullet’s bus to get a container. When I got back I couldn’t find Balla. So after looking around and asking Aaron I gave up.

“Then I wanted Mr. Fluffs ‘cause I felt sad. I looked everywhere, I couldn’t find him! I asked Aaron and he said he never saw it. I started freaking out and looked everywhere, that’s when the bus got messy. I didn’t mean to make it so bad, I just got so angry! Now Balla and Mr. Fluffs is missing!”

Johnny sighed, running a hand through his hair. Against his heart’s plead to take it easy on the teen, his head told him he had to punish her. A frog and stuffed bear were not good reasons to destroy the bus. “You’re grounded Marco.”

“What?” Marco asked, not use to that phrase. She had never done anything to get herself grounded before.

“You’re grounded,” Johnny repeated, crossing his arms over his chest in what he hoped seemed stern. It worked, though Marco would never admit it to him. “No phone, no TV, no hanging out, and no computer except for schoolwork. I’ll let you keep your iPod only because I would think that’s complete torture.”

“For how long?!” Marco exclaimed.

“A week. More if you don’t lower your voice,” Johnny said calmly, which shocked even himself. Marco’s mouth automatically formed a straight line. “As your first punishment you have to clean up the bus.”

“What?! All by myself?!” Johnny nodded, angering the teen. “That’ll take me all day! I won’t be able to go to the show!”

“That’s fine. You’re not going to any of them this week anyways.” Marco’s mouth fell agape.

“What was the point of me coming on tour if I can’t go to any of the shows?!”

“Should have thought of that before you destroyed the tour bus.” Marco groaned in annoyance, slouching from her perch on the edge of the bunk. Johnny sighed, running a hand through his hair again. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but it needs to stop right now.”

“I should have just stayed home with Papa Gates,” Marco muttered.

“Yeah well, maybe you should have,” Johnny agreed. Marco tilted her head down to hide the tears she felt brimming her eyes. “Now give me your phone.”

Marco didn’t bother lifting her head as she slapped her phone into his palm. He walked to the front of the bus, unplugging the television. He placed the laptop between the driver’s seat and the side of the bus, a spot Marco wouldn’t look. Pleased with this he called for her to start cleaning before he walked off. Johnny headed over to the guys that were leaning against the fence a few feet down from the bus.

“What happened?” Brian asked as he saw the bassist approaching. Johnny sighed, slipping a cigarette between his lips. He let out a groan as he patted himself down, not finding his lighter. Suddenly a flame flickered to life in front of his face. Once he lit up the white stick, he nodded his thanks to Matt.

“She’s grounded and has to clean up the bus. I don’t know what to do with her anymore. She’s getting out of hand.”

“She’s a teen, bro. She’s going to be like that. We all were,” Jimmy reasoned. Johnny sighed, letting out a breath of smoke.

“I just wish sometimes that I didn’t have to deal with it.”

“That’s parenthood my friend. Helping Dad and Suzy raise Johnny H. and McKenna I learned how much of an ass it is. You chose it, you have to deal with all of it. And not just the good parts,” Brian said knowingly.

“I think we all helped with Kenna,” Zacky chuckled. They all laughed, remembering helping with the young girl in all the ways they had to. Especially Zacky and Brian. They could both remember the first time they had to find out how to change a diaper. Not pretty.

“Hey, be happy we weren’t around for Marco’s ‘tea party’ stage. I don’t think I could go through the fairy wings again,” Matt pointed out. Everyone groaned in unison.

“At least you only had that. Zacky and I had to wear tutus too,” Johnny muttered, Zacky nodding in agreement.

“I believe Brian still owes us a lot,” Jimmy announced, everyone but Brian then shouting their agreements with ‘yeah’. Brian rose his hands in defense.

“I didn’t want to go through it alone. She was sick, I was babysitting, and Johnny bailed out on me. Multiple times might I add.”

“Can you blame him?” Zacky mocked. Brian sighed, rubbing his neck.

“Can we drop it? It’s ancient history.”

“For you,” the other four muttered.

“Well you know what? I think I can recall a time all of you were pretty happy that time when you all got into a tea party of two. For example, Jimmy, I recall a time you were excited being Mr. Beanstalk.”

“Shuddup,” Jimmy muttered, looking away nonchalantly. Everyone couldn’t help but snicker at him. He glared, sticking out his tongue. Suddenly his head tilted to the side, staring at something green on the ground right by the bus door. “Hey, what’s that?”

“What’s what?” Everyone turned around to where his lanky finger was pointing. Johnny ventured forward, leaning over with his hands on his knees to stare at it.

“Oh God, isn’t that the frog Marco had earlier?” Johnny looked at Matt, who stood next to him, before staring back at the green mess. He took in a sharp breath as he realized it was the crushed remains of a baby frog. Balla to be specific.

“Oh fuck,” Johnny muttered, covering his eyes with a hand as he stood to his full height. It was tense through the friends. Jimmy picked up a leaf, using it to pick up the body and toss it under the bus.

“Are we going to tell her?”

“No. It looked like someone probably did it on accident. Better to leave her thinking it just ran off.” Everyone nodded in agreement. Things were just not looking up.