The Plan

Some tours we went on were full of glitter, rainbows, and sunshine. Others were dramatic and gloomy. This one was a soap opera.

Simone continued to help me with merch each night. She still needed the job and flying home would be too expensive. Her anger towards me had waned slightly, gliding more into a mild attitude problem and mostly just being completely ignored.

The band went on each night (without the backdrop) and performed up to their usual standards. If you didn’t know him personally, you wouldn’t notice how mournful Mike Hranica sounded. His usual elusiveness had skyrocketed and half the time no one knew where he was.

Nearly everyone on the tour blamed Mike and I for the increased drama. Andy was the only one who stuck up for me regularly and even then he faced Simone’s wrath. I drove the van every night, Mike lying wordlessly in the back or scribbling things down frantically in the passenger seat.

Throughout it all, Mike and I had become closer than ever. The two black sheep had to flock together sometimes to maintain sanity. While we were nearly always in contact with each other with other people around, this newfound closeness didn’t escape other’s notice.

“We’re gonna be in New York on Friday,” Mike said. His voice was raspy and deep since he’d only just been asleep a moment ago. I glanced at him and then back to the road. “How do you feel about that?”

“I feel like I’m gonna go visit my parents and not deal with all this bullshit for an entire night,” I answered freely. No one was in the van with us tonight. Everyone was on the bus drinking. I rarely ever went on the bus these days.

“Be real Kelly, I know you don’t want to go back.”

“I hate you,” I said lightly. He chuckled darkly.

“Who doesn’t?”

“I’m excited to be back at my venue and to see who’s still there and all that. New York was just, bad for me. That place was where I lived until I became me, you know? It wasn’t a good place,” I said, “So I guess I don’t feel much about it.”

He didn’t press the matter further and sat up, stretching. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel and bit my lip. We never spoke about Simone or anything about that situation. In fact, we’d regressed back into our old friendship; books, music, and niceties.

“They’re going to a rest stop. You wanna stop?” I asked, when the bus signaled into a large truck stop. We had the GPS so we could continue without them. He sighed and then shrugged.

“Yeah, I have to pee,” he said. I pulled into the parking lot and parked next to the bus. I got out quickly stretching and rubbing my eyes. Mike was already inside, no doubt finding the key to the restroom. Some of the opening bands vans were pulling in too.

A band from New York had taken me under their wing. I’d met their screamer, Max, a few times before at parties and other random things when I was in high school. I was happy to find out that his band A City In The Sky was doing well enough to open for TDWP.

“Kell, you look exhausted,” Max said. He shook his head and smiled, gathering me into a quick hug. I shrugged and pulled my hair up into a bun, staring at the short vocalist. He had truly picked me up when I fell.

“Mostly because I am exhausted,” I pointed out. Our attention focused on the rest stop. As Mike left, Simone entered and she shot him such a hostile glance that I was afraid he would break down in tears. Instead, he flipped her off and continued walking.

This led to a serious slew of shit to ensue. Andy tried to calm Simone since he was behind her and then Chris grabbed Mike’s arm in an attempt to drag him away. My best friend’s passive behavior was gone now that she was a woman scorned and she looked just about ready to rip his throat out.

I couldn’t hear the argument but my name was screamed a few times.

“How about you ditch this van and come with us?” Max asked. I bit my lip and weighed the choices. Driving with an unhappy, pissed off Mike for 8 more hours didn’t sound appealing nor did I want him to kill me. “C’mon, you can sleep in the back.”

At the promise of sleep I nodded, going back into the van for my phone and snacks. I climbed into A City In The Sky’s van, greeted by a chorus of greetings. I sat myself in the middle seat between the bassist and the guitarist.

“Oh shit, Max you didn’t tell me you were driving,” I said. He turned and smiled the lights from outside glinting off his glasses. I snorted and shook my head leaning back in the seat and shutting my eyes.

We were driving again soon enough and the bumps in the highway lulled me into sleep.