Textbook Romance

"I'm shaking," Max murmured as we stood in the small bathroom of the bus.

I rubbed his arm as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Just think about it, when this is all over you won't have to rely on anything but yourself to make it through the day."

Max nodded once and I knew that wasn't much comfort for someone who was about to face one of the hardest things he'd ever done. I watched as Max emptied the back of white power into the toilet.

I took the empty bag from his hands and tossed it in the garbage. I took his hand and led him to the front of the bus so we could play video games or something, anything to take his mind off of it. Max was jittery as we sat there and watched a movie, just the disk that was already in the player.

"Don't worry about it right now," I told him, "Just try and think about something else. Something more important than drugs."

Max nodded slightly and leaned his head on my shoulder, closing his eyes as he did so. I smiled lightly, comfortingly, and turned my attention back to the T.V letting him have his moment. I could feel myself drifting off.

The next thing I knew I was being squished under Craig's thin body. "Get up! You're the one who wanted to go out!"

I groaned and opened my eyes. I was still on the couch but Max was no longer laying on me. Craig was sitting with each knee on either side of my hips. I groaned and tried to shove him off of me.

"I'm getting up!" I yelled as Craig began to bounce.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Max coming out of the bathroom in a pair of shorts, obviously getting read to go out. "Help me!" I mouth, trying to shove Craig off again.

Max rolled his eyes and walked over. He shoved Craig's shoulder once and I watched as Craig hit the floor of the bus. I laughed and stood up, hugging Max. "Thanks," I said as I turned to skip back to my bunk. I climbed up and looked at the outfit I had picked out in my mind. It was a pair of tight fitting jeans and a 'off-the-shoulder' top. I grabbed it and slid down, bumping into Robert.

"Sorry," I said as I offered him a smile.

"It's fine," he replied, chuckling at my hyper appearance. "Excited?" he questioned.

I nodded. "Yeah. I haven't been to a club in awhile."

Robert wrapped his arm over my shoulder and leaned in slightly. "Well," he murmured, "You're going to have a lot of fun tonight."

I chuckled and pushed him away from me. "I'll hold that to you," I called as I hurried into the bathroom to get changed so that we could go.

I changed quickly and grinned when I noticed a red hair straightener plugged in. I straightened my hair with it and looked at myself in the mirror. I knew that Craig and Max had to have eyeliner sitting around some where. I pulled out the drawer under the sink and frowned when it was void of any makeup.

I pushed the door open and called out, "Max!" I shouted, "I need your eyeliner!"

I heard a thump come from the bunk area and then Max came walking into the bathroom, still shirtless but adorning a pair of dark-wash jeans. He pulled the door shut behind him and I eyed him suspiciously. He crouched down and pulled open the cupboard under the sink. He reached in and fiddled around for a minute before pulling out a baggy full of red and black eyeliner as well as face stuff.

"Hide it back under there when you're done," he smiled crookedly, "Or else Craig gets his hands on it and I'll never see it again."

I chuckled and saluted. Max glanced at my outfit and then he pushed the door open and disappeared. I rimmed my eyes with black liner on the top and the bottom and grinned at myself in the mirror, noticing that I didn't look too shabby.

I left the bathroom after hiding Max's bag of makeup once again. I noticed that all the guys were dressed up nicely and had their hair done too. I slipped into my shoes and searched for my phone, iPod, and cigarettes. When I found them and they were all stuffed into my pockets I went to the back room where Craig was waiting, and asked if I could borrow a hoodie or something.

"Why?" Craig questioned as he hopped up from the couch, yanking his jeans up higher on his hips.

I shrugged, "For later, it gets cold out at night."

Craig glanced at my outfit and grinned. "You look good, why would you want to cover," he motioned to me, "All that up?" he finished.

I smacked his arm and asked, "Can I borrow a sweatshirt or not?"

Craig rolled his eyes and walked to the bunks. I followed after him as he reached into his bunk and dug around through the mess. Then he looked up. "Max man, do you have my black and red hoodie?"

Max's head darted over the edge of his bunk. "Which one?" he questioned, his hair falling into his eyes.

"The one with the star on it," Craig told him, "It's the only one I have that'll fit Ginny."

Max held up a finger as if to say, "One minute" and he disappeared back into his bunk. A minute later a black and red pull over hoodie came flying at me. "Found it," Max grinned as he slid out of his bunk, landing on the floor in front of me.

"Thanks," I said to the both of them as I folded it up. "We ready to go?" I questioned, glancing back at the back room where Robert and Monte were hanging out.

"I'm ready when you are," Max said with a shrug.

I smiled at him, noticing that his eyes were rimmed with red eyeliner, bringing out the greenness of his hazy eyes.

"Robert, Monte, lets go!" Craig shouted back to them as the three of us turned to walk towards the front of the bus. I grinned as Craig slipped into his shoes and Robert and Monte appeared, ready to go.

I was kind of nervous about going out with them, knowing that if Neil found out he wouldn't be too happy. When we were off of the bus, I stopped and turned to face the guys. "Uhh," I stuttered, "Are we walking there?"

They all laughed and shook their heads as Max slipped his arm around my shoulders. "You'll learn," he muttered, shaking his head at me. I rolled my eyes but didn't shove him away from me. We walked for a few minutes until we came to a van.

"Yo, ETF, you boys ready to party?" a voice came from a young man as he slipped out of the driver's seat.

"Hey Brad," Craig grinned, doing the guy handshake thing. I chuckled as the rest of them did it to. When the guy, Brad, came over to Max he stopped short.

"Who's your girl?" Brad asked Max, grinning.

"This is -"

"I'm not his girl," I cut Max off, offering my hand, "My name is Ginny."

Brad looked confused, "Ginny? As in Neil's girl?"

I nodded. "The very one. How do you know?"

Brad pulled me in for a hug. "I've known the guys a long time. Everyone knew you were coming. The boys told me your name and shit so that I wouldn't stop you if you tried to get into the venue."

"Ahh," I nodded, "Gotcha."

He grinned and swung the keys around his finger. "You guys ready to go? We're in for some fun tonight."

I laughed, "Everyone keeps saying that."

"That's because it's true," Max whispered in my ear, causing me to smack his stomach. Max laughed and wrapped his arm back over my shoulder, leading me into the van.