This Masterpiece Will Fall Apart

“Josline, come on. You have to get up,” Airin shook my shoulders to try and get me up. It was now early February and we were in Calgary. So far, the tour had been great. Everyone was getting along and no one had tried to kill anyone. I rolled over in my bed, the covers pulled up just below my eyes. I had my hoodie on, and the hood was pulled up over my head.

“No. Fuck off,” I groaned, mashing my face into the pillow. Airin sighed and pushed on my shoulders again.

“We have to get going,” Airin said.

“No,” I whined again. Airin pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Josline, we were supposed to leave a half-hour ago,” Airin told me. I looked up and looked at the little clock beside the bed. It was 6:03.

“Airin, it takes 3 hours to get to Edmonton from Calgary. We don't have to be at the venue for sound check until 4. If we leave at 10, we should be okay,” I said, putting my head down on the pillow.

“Okay...you asked for it,” Airin flipped my blanket up where my feet were and grabbed my ankles. He started to drag me off the bed. I tried to grasp onto the headboard, but Airin had already moved me too far away from it. I fell with a thud on the ground.

“You fucking bitch!” I rolled over and glared at him. Airin just shrugged at me. I stood up and stretched my arms up and yawned. It seemed that Airin had already packed my clothes into my bag. “Did you already clean up?”

“Yeah, I put all your things in your bag and got all your things out of the bathroom,” Airin said, picking up his own duffel bag and swinging his backpack over his shoulder. “I was bored while I was waiting for you to wake up,” Airin smiled at me and walked out of the room. I made sure I had everything I needed and headed out. Jason took my bag from me and threw it in the back with everyone else's. I crawled into the middle seat next to Marque and buckled myself up. Zack and Keith were sitting in the front seats (Zack was driving).

“Rocking the sweats today Josline?” Zack asked me. I was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants that I got when I was in high school. They had “Falcons” printed on the bum.

“Yes. I'm hobo-esque today, and I don't give a shit,” I said, folding my arms across my chest. Jason started laughing while he climbed into the backseat with Airin. I was also wearing a blue hoodie that Matt gave me for Christmas one year. I kicked off my shoes and curled my legs up under me. Zack held his hand out for my iPod and he plugged it in to the auxiliary port in the van. Zack hit shuffle and a Bon Jovi song (Livin' on a Prayer) started playing. Before we left, Zack told Damien where to meet up, and to call someone if they had to stop for any reason...just like he had been telling them every day of the tour. We pulled out of the hotel parking lot and Keith was just rocking out in the front seat. I glared at him, and Zack caught my look.

“What's with the death stare Josy?” Zack said. He had taken to calling me Josy (like Josey). I had no idea why, but he did.

“Keith is too energetic for the morning.”

“Come on, it's Bon Jovi!” Keith exclaimed.

“Anyone who is as energetic as you in the mornings deserved a punch in the jewels,” I said. Keith laughed and resorted to making smaller rock-out movements. I shook my head at him and leaned my head backwards. I soon fell asleep on Marque, who had dozed off before everyone else. I was woken up to Airin's loud, obnoxious cough. I looked back at him. “What the hell was that?” I whispered. Keith had fallen asleep in the front seat, Jason was doing something on his laptop, and Marque was still sleeping. Zack was quietly singing along to a Marianas Trench song that was playing through the speakers.

“Sorry. I have this really irritating cough right now. I don't know why,” Airin said. Jason reached forwards and grabbed a bag. He pulled out two tablets of cough medicine and handed it to Airin.

“Take those and they should start working within 45 minutes. Do not take any more for at least 4 hours,” Jason said, still keeping his eyes on his laptop. Jason was a pharmaceutical student before he joined on as our tech. It was a weird change.

“Ah, yes. Our on the go pharmacy,” I smiled. Jason looked up briefly and smiled. Airin took the pills out of the plastic packaging and put them in his mouth. I turned back around and leaned up against Marque again. He probably was the best “pillow” out of the entire band. He was, in a way, “heftier” than the other guys. He wasn't over-weight by any means, he just had more muscle mass to him. Both Airin and Keith were tall and lanky. Jason was average height for a 32 year old male, and had a pretty toned body (he said he got that was from running after us for years). Zack was fairly short for a 19 year old, but he was very thin. I tried sleeping on Zack once, and it was like sleeping on a wooden bed frame. I had to pile my pillows up against him, and I pretty much buried him in them.

We got to Edmonton and found the hotel we were going to stay at. I was bunking with Zack this time. Keith was with Airin, and Marque was with Jason. Marque and Airin always stayed in separate beds or rooms when on tour. I really liked how they kept it professional on the road. Yes, there would be times where they would need to just go away for a little while, but no one really seemed to mind. We all found a little place to go eat lunch, and then we headed over to the venue to set up. I was finishing up with one thing on the far side of the stage, and when I stood upright, I felt nauseated. I had on and off nausea for a few weeks. I wasn't really sure what it was but I just shrugged it off. Zack was nearby, sitting on an amp and tuning an acoustic guitar and I could tell he had an eye on me. I shook the feeling off and continued. Another wave washed over me and I ran to the nearest garbage can to throw up. It was the most unpleasant feeling ever. Zack walked over and put a hand on the small of my back. “Come on, let's get you some water,” he said, leading me away from everyone. He took me backstage and got a bottle of water from our room. He handed it to me and I took a long drink from it. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I think so. It might have been something I ate today,” I shrugged.

“Okay, well, you just hang out back here. I'll finish up,” Zack squeezed my shoulder lightly before leaving. I shook my head and took another drink from the water bottle.