Smash Into Me

“Kayleigh, I don’t want you working today,” Mike said, pointing his finger at the girl in front of him eating a bowl of cereal. “You have a concussion and your arm is – ”

“My arm is fine, Jesus Christ,” Kayleigh rolled her eyes before shoveling another spoonful of Cinnamon Toast Crunch into her mouth. Her arm wasn’t fine, really. It was killing her. The throbbing and aching kept her up all night. But she wasn’t going to just sit back and not work. She had to work. “And if it starts to hurt, I’ll just take a little pain medicine. No worries, Mike.”

Mike shook his head, not believing her at all. He was practically giving her the day off and she wasn’t taking it. Kayleigh was a determined girl. She had her mind set on something. “Alright, if it gets too much…call Jerry or Sierra. They’ll take over for you, got it?”

“Aye, aye, captain,” She laughed, saluting him. She got up from the table and skipped off the bus, leaving Mike to clean up her bowl of cereal.

*

With the table set up and all the merch hung up, Kayleigh breathed for the first time since she started. Her arm was really hurting, but she pushed the pain away. The pain wouldn’t keep her from doing what she needed to do.

She plopped down in her little lawn chair and grabbed her sketchbook and pencil that were resting on one of the bins.

She started to sketch. She didn’t know what she was sketching. She just let her hand go and do whatever her mind told it.

What seemed like hours passed and Kayleigh was still sketching. She had sketched two octopuses holding tentacles, afraid to let go of one another for fear of losing that tentacle and the contact.

“Hey,” A small voice snapped her out of her focus on the drawing in her lap. Her eyes floated up to see a small blonde standing there, a timid smile on her face. “C-can I have the purple “Now That You Know” shirt in a s-small?”

“Of course you can, love,” She smiled as she stood up. She paused for a moment. Did she just say love? She had been spending too much time with the guys in You Me At Six. She pulled out a small purple shirt and handed it to the girl, smiling, “Twenty.”

The girl smiled and handed her a fresh twenty. “Thank you so much. Do-do you know wh-when Versa is gonna do a signing…?” She asked quietly. “Or if they are…”

“Oh, shit, um,” Kayleigh dug around through one of the bins. She had forgotten to hang up the little white board with signing and stage times. She pulled out a schedule Mike had put in the bin too. “Two-fifty! Right after their set. Coming to hang?”

“Yeah! Thank you,” She smiled, slipping a five into Kayleigh’s tip jar. She turned and walked off, leaving Kayleigh with a wide smile on her face. Kayleigh loved fans, especially sweet and shy ones like her that left tips.

Kayleigh plopped back down in her chair. It was only eleven twenty and she’d done a pretty good job getting tips. It might’ve been the fact that she wrote “help me get my friend Josh a birthday present!” with Josh’s picture slapped underneath it on the jar.

She had made this new layer for her tip jar this morning right after she had woke up. That was what she was so set on doing. She needed enough money for Josh’s present. She had no idea what she was going to get him, but she figured she’d start out by getting enough money for anything.

A pair of arms wrapped loosely around her neck, startling her to near heart attack. She gasped and turned around in her chair, looking up to see Josh standing there, a crooked grin on his face.

“Thanks for the heart attack, dick,” She muttered, watching as he walked around and sat on the table. “Don’t break that table.”

“Are you implying something?” He asked.

“Yes, you’re fat,” She said completely straight-faced. It took all her might not to break out and smile. She was only joking. Josh didn’t get that. His face fell and he got off the table, walking back through the other tents.

Kayleigh groaned and rolled her eyes. She got up and followed him. He was only two tents away, in the Jac Vanek tent. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back a bit. “Hey, I was joking.”

It was Josh’s turn to roll his eyes. He shrugged Kayleigh’s hand off of him and kept walking.

Kayleigh stared, mouth half open. He was being extra pissy today. He shouldn’t have been though. It was his birthday.

“What’s his problem?” Nicole asked Kayleigh as she stood there.

“I’ve got no fucking clue,” Kayleigh replied, going back to her tent. She sighed and sat back down in her chair.

Kayleigh pulled her phone out of her pocket and quickly texted Sierra and Jerry to come to the tent. She had said she had a headache and she wanted to lie down. Bull. She was going to go find Josh and talk to him.

Ten minutes of waiting and two fans later, Sierra and Jerry showed up. Jerry was carrying Sierra on his back which made Kayleigh giggle.

"Your head hurting?"

"Something like that," Kayleigh muttered, grabbing her phone off the table.

"Go. Lay down. Now," Jerry said, shooing Kayleigh out of her chair after Sierra had jumped off his back.

Kayleigh laughed, "Thanks so much, babes."

"I said go!" Jerry laughed, shoving her out of the tent.

Kayleigh made the long trek back to the bus. Josh had to be there. Where else would he go?

The sky looked like it was about to open up and pour. Everyone wished it would hold off and stay away, but Kayleigh wanted the rain. The rain made her happy.

When she reached bus fifty-three, the sky opened up and poured, soaking everything around her as she stepped on the bus.

Just as she had thought, Josh was sitting on the couch in the front lounge, staring at his phone in his hand. He looked at it with furrowed brows. He was mad, no doubt. Kayleigh wondered why.

Josh didn't even hear Kayleigh get on the bus. He flinched slightly when she sat next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. He shrugged her off.

"What's wrong with you today? You're extra pissy," Kayleigh muttered, tucking her knees up to her chest. “Are you on your period? I’ve got some tampons if you – ”

“Shut up, Kayleigh,” Josh snapped, getting up from the couch. He went back to the bunks, shutting the door behind him.

Kayleigh sat there wide-eyed and not amused at all. Josh was being a total prick and she had no idea why. Just last night they were joking around like that and he was fine. What caused him to flip dramatically?

A lightbulb went off in Kayleigh’s mind. What if no one said happy birthday to him and he was upset?

She got off the couch and made her way to the bunks. She slowly slid the door open, poking her head in. Josh’s bunk was closed. She went and sat in her bunk across from his. She reached out and slowly pulled his curtain open.

Josh rolled over to see why there was light pouring in his bunk. He let out a loud sigh when he saw it was just Kayleigh pulling his curtain open. “What, Kayleigh?”

“Tell me why you’re being such a dick,” Kayleigh said bluntly. There was no beating around the bush, no small talk, no nothing. “Did no one say happy birthday? Happy birthday, Josh.”

Josh couldn’t help but to smile. Kayleigh cared and that was evident.

He sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bunk. He sat hunched over in his small space, staring at the girl sat across from him. She looked upset with him. She had every right to be.

“I’m sorry, Kayleigh,” He sighed. That wasn’t enough. He ran a hand through his hair and glanced at the ground. “It’s just…everyone’s being a massive cunt today. I’ve no idea why, but All Time Low is pissed at us, no one is gonna come see us play today, I’m pretty sure it’s fucking raining outside, and yes, no one has said happy birthday,” He explained, still staring at the ground. “Right now, I just want to leave. I want to go home.”

Kayleigh nodded before getting up and stuffing herself next to him in the small bunk. She rested her head on his shoulder. “Stop running from the storm, Josh. You gotta dance in the rain once in a while.”

“What?”

“Stop running from your problems.”

Josh looked at the girl resting her head on his shoulder. She didn’t get it. His life was falling apart. His band members barely talked to each other. One of the biggest bands on the tour was pissed at them. No one ever came to see them play. Life was falling apart. He couldn’t keep living like that.

“You don’t get it, Kayleigh,” He shook his head.

Kayleigh sat up and looked directly into his eyes. She did get it. “Uh, yes, I do, Josh. Versa is pretty much in the same boat as you. Sierra and Anthony don’t talk at all anymore. You don’t see them wanting to give up and go home, do you?”

“Kayleigh – ”

“No more excuses, Josh. You can either fix your problems and quit the woe is me bullshit, or you can continue to run,” Kayleigh said as she got out of the bunk. She went to the door to the bunks. She turned around and looked at him, “You’ve been given the opportunity of a lifetime, Josh. Don’t you dare throw it away because of one bump in the road.”

Josh just stared at Kayleigh as she walked out of the bunks. She went to the front lounge and disappeared from sight.

Josh sat there for about twenty minutes just thinking about what Kayleigh had said. She was right. He had to brave the storm and get through this. He needed to be the bigger man and let nothing else get him down.

Josh stood up and left the bus. It was pouring. He didn’t care. He spotted Kayleigh standing in the middle of the parking lot, just dancing around in the rain. He smiled. She was carefree and a dreamer. That’s just what he needed.

Kayleigh noticed Josh standing by the bus staring at her with a wide grin slapped on his face. She smirked, knowing full well that she had gotten to him. She ran over and slammed into him, wrapping her arms around his body.

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly to his chest. He placed his lips on the top of her wet head and laughed, “Thank you, Kayleigh.”

“You’re quite welcome, Josh,” She smiled into his chest. She pulled away from him and grabbed his hand. “Now, come.”

“Where are we going?” Josh asked as she pulled him away from the buses. They were now running in the pouring rain through the bus parking lot.

Kayleigh ignored him and continued running. She pulled him through the massive crowds of kids and band/crew members all scrambling to keep dry. They both laughed as they ran. Kayleigh was definitely just what Josh needed.