Both Sides of the Story

Most people in the town of Abingdon, Virginia are asleep at eight in the morning on Sundays. Most people sleep in and make the most of a "lazy Sunday". Others are up and going to church as they do every Sunday. My sister and I were doing neither of these things. We were sitting on the couch in our living room, huddled around my phone which was on speaker and the voice of our manager, Graham was on the other line.

"What is this even about? I'm tired and I'd like to sleep." My sister complained. She let out a yawn and reached over me to get her cigarettes from the coffee table.

"This is really big. Like huge news, you guys. It's about a tour!" Bex and I exchanged incredulous looks.

"Graham," I started. "You do realize we just got back from our East Coast tour, right? We came home to relax and take time off!"

"I know, I know, but I got a call yesterday from Modest Management about a huge tour for you guys. It's a European tour!" Bex coughed on the smoke ring she had been blowing out of her mouth. I patted her back lightly and brought the phone closer to us.

"European?! Graham, that's fantastic! Is it a headliner or are we touring with someone?"

"I'm glad you asked, Carese. You guys are going to be the opening act for One Direction!"

Bex quirked an eyebrow and blew out another stream of smoke. "That boy band from England?"

"The very one. The boys and their management were looking at smaller, American acts to take with them and apparently you girls were on the list. The boys heard one of your songs and loved you immediately. This is really big, you know."

We did know. The biggest thing my sister and I had ever played in the last two years of our group's existence was opening for a few moderately popular bands like This Century and Go Radio. Other than that, we toured and played alongside smaller bands like us. We had just finished our mini East Coast headlining tour which had received much more buzz than we expected. Granted, we only sold out about five dates of the twelve date tour but, that was better than nothing. We had never toured with such a huge band before, let alone toured anywhere other than North America.

"So when exactly is this tour thing happening?" Bex asked, checking the date on her phone.

"Two months."

I frowned at the phone and moved it into my left hand. "Two months? Graham, we still have to pack and meet these guys and rehearse and get ourselves situated. How are we supposed to do that in only two months? You usually give us three or four months in advance."

"I know, I know. It's what Modest told me. You two and your backing band will be flying out this Tuesday to London to meet them and get situated in a hotel while you go through rehearsal."

So that was it then. Everything was set up and arranged whether we had any say in it or not. It's not like I didn't want to go on tour; this was a big thing. I was just a bit unsure. I mean, we're just two girls from Virginia in a small band and we’re now traveling across the ocean and touring in a bunch of foreign countries as the opening act for the world's biggest boy band. I was still trying to take it in.

Graham said he'd be here from L.A. on Tuesday morning at ten so we needed to be up and packed for the airport by then. After we got off of the phone, Bex finished her cigarette and stubbed it out in the ashtray.

"So, what do you think about this tour?"

I stood up from the couch to stretch. "I don't know. I mean, like Graham said, it's a big thing. We're really gonna gain some fans from this. Plus, One Direction isn’t that bad. I've heard a few of their songs and they're quite catchy."

"Well, I'm pretty excited about it. It's our first time in Europe, Reese. Can you say 'tourist mode activate'?"

I laughed and shook my head before I thought of something. "Do you think we should tell mom and dad?"

Bex snorted and pulled herself up from the couch. "Why? It's not like they'd care. They didn't care when we went on our first tour two years ago and they didn't care when we went on our first headlining tour a few weeks ago. Don't bother." She waved her hand at me and headed down the hall, most likely back to her room to go back to bed.

I knew she was right. Our parents didn't exactly agree with our choice of career. They had plans for Bex and I to go to college and become lawyers or doctors. When we told them that we were going to be musicians instead, they all but disowned us. According to them, "no daughters of theirs would waste their lives on the God forsaken music industry". They said we could either go to school or we had to leave.

Luckily, our family's pretty well off so Bex and I took our savings accounts and got our own apartment in town. Even though we weren't on the best of terms with our parents, we both still liked our cozy little town enough to stay. Once we had gotten signed by Same Way Records and got our own manager, we could've moved out to L.A. but we decided to just stay where we grew up for now. Maybe one day we'd move out to California, but not now.

When I got back into my room, I had half a mind to start packing now seeing how I'd probably forget but, I decided to follow Bex's lead and go back to sleep instead.



As I anticipated, I left my packing until the last minute and was still shoving clothes in one of my suitcases by the time Graham was knocking on the door. I put it off until the night before, around two in the morning and then I ended up falling asleep when I wasn't even halfway done. Bex got me up an hour before we were set to leave since I also neglected to set my alarm. Unlike me, she had done her packing earlier the afternoon before and didn't have to rush around to get ready like I did.

"Bex, the door!"

"Got it." She walked casually past my room and I heard her open the door. I lifted my still wet hair off of my shoulders and threw it in a messy bun. I surveyed my three suitcases again before deeming them packed and ready to go and zipped them up. I grabbed the handles of all of them along with my bag and practically tripped over myself to get out of my room.

Graham helped Bex and I with our bags and once they were all packed in the SUV, I said one more goodbye to our house and climbed in. Our backing band was already in the car before us. Jackson - our drummer, Lee - our bassist and Alec - our guitar player only came into our lives when we were signed. At first, it had just been Bex and her keyboard and me and my acoustic guitar when we were first getting Folie a Deux off the ground. When we had an actual label, they provided us with these guys for our faster songs that weren't just acoustically oriented. They were basically like the brothers we never had and we were all a nice little family.

"So, are you guys ready to get attacked by crazy One Direction fans?" Jackson asked, leaning over the seat to look at us.

"Why would we get attacked by One Direction fans?" I turned to look at him and he was rolling his eyes.

"Because, you're girls and you're going to be around their precious babies, duh."

Bex let out a laugh and glanced at Jackson. "It's not like we're going to be fucking them. We're just doing some songs and getting out of the way so they can sing their little pop songs. I highly doubt we'll be getting harassed by pre-teen girls."

"Whatever you say, Bex. Don’t say I didn't warn you." Jackson sat back in his seat and I heard his seatbelt reclick. I bit my bottom lip, which is a habit I had when I was nervous, and peered out of the window. I was already a bundle of emotions about this whole tour, the last thing I needed was to worry about my life being on the line due to millions of teenage girls and their insane obsessions. I sighed, feeling frustrated at myself. I usually don't make big deals out of stuff or worry about a lot of things so I had no clue why I was dwelling on this so much.

"Hey," I turned my head towards Bex who had laid her hand on my shoulder. "I know that face. Don't get too worked up over what that idiot said. It's just a tour. We’re going to play shows, meet fans, travel around Europe and continue to do what we do. It's going to be fine, Reese." My sister flashed me a smile which automatically made me feel better. If there was ever anyone in the world I could depend on to keep my nerves in check, it was her.

"You're right. I'm just over thinking. We're going to kick ass on this tour!"

"Hell yeah we are!" Bex and I fist bumped then fell into a fit of giggles, making the guys look at us curiously. Reasons like this are why I love my sister. I definitely wouldn't be able to do all this alone.