Textbook Romance

"I need to know what happened," he changed the subject from himself back to Neil.

I shrugged and bit my lip, unwilling to tell him, knowing he might be angry or hurt.

"I'll just listen," he murmured, looking into my carmel eyes with his own forest colored ones, "I just need to know if I should prepare for Neil to try and beat my ass."

I bit my lip and sighed, knowing he probably did need to know. I couldn't just tell him flat out, because I wasn't sure if he should be "prepared" or not. I decided to let him use his own judgement.

"I went to talk to him," I said, knowing that part was obvious, "And he said he wasn't going to apologize to you. Then he called..." I trailed off, wondering how bad my side of this would sound. "He called you an asshole, and I stuck up for you."

Max's eyes searched mine. "That's why he dumped you?" he asked, "Because you stood up for me?"

I shook my head, no.

"Then why?" he questioned, pushing my hair out of my eyes as I looked away from him.

I coughed awkwardly and licked my lips before continuing. "He asked if something was going on between us. When I denied it, he asked me not to lie to him."

"He what?" Max asked, automatically. Then he shook his head. "I'm sorry, Nev," he said, I didn't mean to break-"

"Yes you did," I told him, not mad at him. "It's okay. He didn't have to trust you," I replied to him, "But he should've at least trusted me."

Max just nodded and slid up so that he was sitting with his legs crossed as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked down at me where I laid, sprawled out on his bed, my hands resting above my head.

Max nodded and then sighed before climbing over my torso and peaking his head out of his curtain. "What time is it?" he shouted into the back room.

"Quarter after four," Robert yelled back at him distractedly.

I pouted but sighed, knowing I had to be to work an hour and a half before the doors opened, and that was in 15 minutes.

"Want me to walk you in?" Max questioned as he looked to me.

I shrugged and reached up to push his fading hair out of his eyes. "If you want to."

He shrugged too and smiled at me before climbing over my and sliding out of his bunk, letting his feet crash to the floor, before he held his hand up for me to reach.

"Thanks," I murmured as I grabbed his hand and slid down, my feet making a much quieter thump as I touched the ground.

"No problem," Max said before pulling me out to the living room so that we could slide into our shoes.

I stopped and turned back towards the bunks after I had my shoes tied. "Forgot my lanyard," I told him as I stepped up and reached into my bunk, grabbing the tour pass before clambering down and going out to meet Max. We walked side by side across the lot towards the venue, not speaking, just thinking to ourselves.

Max walked me all the way to where Tey was in one of the back rooms, rummaging through the merchandise and checking out what we had in the building.

"Hey," I greeted as I plopped down on the floor next to him and pulled a cardboard box close to me, just like he was doing. "What are we doing?" I asked, offering a smile as Max nodded goodbye to me.

"Counting," Tey replied, not bothering to look up at me as he stopped to write something down on a clipboard.

"Oh," I said, and then began to count the shirts in this box, knowing that we had to keep an inventory of every shirt we sold, what kind it was, and how many of that kind we had left, incase we had to order more.

After 20 or so minutes we had counter the shirts, bracelets, and posters, and shoved them back into their boxes before heading out and away from the stage, since the merch. area was outside of the main floor tonight. We were set up out side of the room so that we could still hear the bands on stage, but couldn't see them. This area was much smaller than the one the night before, and it would be tricky to navigate how each "crew" would be able to sell all their things.

There were only two spots for us to set up, so it was decided that through out the show we would rotate in and out, letting each crew have the amount of time that "their" band was on stage. Which meant that we'd be going last, and now that we'd already done inventory and figured everything out, I was free until A Day To Remember was performing their last song. Which also meant that I'd be able to watch every band perform except Escape the Fate.

I sighed, wishing I had something to do as I sat on the couch in the room where all the merch. roadies were hanging out, having nothing better to do than talk to their friends and wait their turn. I watched as the "roadies" interacted with friendship and ease.

These were the people who spent days and days together on one bus. Ricky was standing with Rachel and a shorter man who held her hand and kissed her occasionally. Ricky saw me looking at him and motioned for me to come over, so I did, being careful to smile at Rachel peacefully as I took my place next to Ricky gracefully.

"What's up, Ginny?" Ricky asked, pulling me in for a sideways hug.

I smiled and shrugged. "Not much," I said honestly, "Just waiting for the show to start."

Ricky nodded eagerly, "It'll be a good one, tonight. Did you guys see the kids lined up outside already? Some of them have been here for hours."

I shook my head, indicating I hadn't noticed them, as the man next to Rachel nodded.

"They're clever fucking kids," he said with a straight smile and encouraging laugh. "A couple of them stopped me when I had to go down to the gas station. Asked me if I could get them in to meet the bands."

"Did you?" I asked right away, biting my lip as I looked to him and shrunk back slightly.

He shook his head. "Not allowed to," he said, offering me a large smile that showed off all of his white teeth. He held out his hand then, "I"m Ian," he said before telling me which band he was working for.

"Ginny," I replied, realizing that was how they did it around here. They classified themselves by which band they worked for. "Escape the Fate," I added after my name, feeling a sense of acceptance wash over me as Ian nodded.

"You work with Tey then," he said, "He was bitching awhile back about needing a new person to step in. Apparently their other merch. girl quit after some fight with their bassist."

"Max," I clarified.

Ian nodded. "Yeah, that's him."

Ricky grinned at me. "So, what's it like being on a band bus?" he asked, sticking his hands into his pockets.

I shrugged and offered a smile as I said, "Well, they certainly don't gossip about you guys like you do with them."

The three of them laughed, even Rachel, and held up their hands in a 'what can you do?' way. I couldn't wipe the grin off of my face as the community of this traveling circus became known to me. If this had been a society, the roadies would've been considered "lower class" but even though they worked for the bands, they weren't considered that here.

These guys were highly respected as part of a family. A band family. Each set of two people was grouped in with the rest of the people that helped the band play a good show, including the band itself.

As I talked with Ian, Rachel, and Ricky before the show, I realized that if I hadn't ended up on the ETF tour bus, that this tour would've been a completely different experience for me. I decided then and there that I wanted both sides of this story. I wanted the ETF experience and the roadie experience, and I was going to get it just by hanging out with these people at work.

I met the rest of the merch. people as I hung out in the room. They were great people, hard working, and chose this job for the thrills, and the freedom. I learned that Ian and Rachel had met when they first became roadies for different bands a few years ago. And now they spent their days working for A Day To Remember. They even coordinated the band's merchandise website.

Noah was the only person on this tour who was still in his teen years. Like me, he was 19, and out touring with his older brother, Danny. I learned that he had been thrown out of high school at 15, and then his parents when he turned 17. From there he moved into his brother's apartment while his brother was out touring.

It was when Danny returned and learned about his brother that he got him a job with the same band he was working with. In the last two years they have been on five tours together, living in freedom and returning back to their apartment between tours.

Tyson, a tall blonde man who didn't have a single tattoo on his body, was a divorced father of two boys. Westly, 5, and Lukas, 3. He toured during the summer and spent the off-season with his sons, who lived with him. I learned that he played guitar and had always wanted to start a band, but at 22 knocked up his girlfriend, married, and then settled down to raise the kid. The summers were his time to live out his dreams through someone else before he went back to reality.

The most shocking thing that I learned was that Ricky, a tattooed, scary looking man, was on tour with his boyfriend, Quinn, who was also tattooed head to toe and could scare you just by sending one glare in your direction. They had been dating since their freshman year in college. They continued to date when Ricky dropped out, and then moved in together. And with in the last 6 months had sold their house, their car, and most of their possessions, and taken to the road with a friend of theirs who had just landed a spot on a major U.S tour.

I was amazed by the different people who were here together, living as one community, in one bus, sharing jobs, working things out, and being happy with where they were. Thrown together by a need for adventure and a longing for freedom. And as the first band took the stage and Ricky and Quinn ran out to start selling, I felt proud to be considered one of them. A lost person just searching for something while on the road.