These Days

I walked onto our bus to find it unusually quite. That's odd. Where is everybody?

I stepped through the bus quietly (because everyone knows how crabby Alex can get if you wake him up from one of his naps) and found Jack passed out on the back lounge, I sighed, he really does need to take better care of himself. Especially in this weather, he's already had heat stroke once this summer and he doesn't need to get it again.

I lift him up carefully and place him into his bunk on top of the covers. Why he still even has them on his bed I'll never know. Before crawling into my own bed and settling down for the night.

If you haven't already guessed I may or may not have a somewhat small crush just maybe on Jack. There I said it I have a crush on him. Jack barakat, our very own fun loving, eccentric, electric guitar player who barely knows that I exist. At least he doesn't have a girlfriend this tour, I remember when he was dating Holly and she stayed on the bus with us for a week. It was hell.

But nobody knows how I feel about Jack. No one at all and I'd quite like to keep it that way. You see if Jack finds out then I'm dead, really dead because Jack can't keep a secret to save his life, so telling him would mean telling everyone and I'm not sure if I'm ready for complete humiliation right now thanks.

Hopefully no one has noticed that my stupid little crush has pretty much rendered me speechless whenever Jack is in the room. And of they have I hope that they will just brush it off as normal for me. But what if they ask? Hmmm maybe it's the heat? Yeah, it's definetly the heat.

----**----

I wake up the next morning to find that I have slept in, I can hear people moving around the bus, making lots of noise but not unloading gear which is wierd. Maybe we have a day off today?

I climb out of my bunk and pull my shirt off, looking around for a new one when I feel two long, gangly arms wrap around my stomach from behind "Zackyyyyy!!!" cries Jack hugging me tightly "you're awake!"

"well if he wasn't he sure is now" says Rian laughing and throwing a clean shirt at me. I smile in thanks and gently ease myself out of Jack's grasp before pulling it on and pretending to look in my bunk for a moment, can't have Jack see the almost-problem that he may have caused.

I turn around a few minutes later to see Jack still standing there behind me, eyes wide and eager "Zackyyyyy" he says "We have a hotel night and Rian says that you can room with me, this on,y means one thing" he trails off slowly before screaming
"SLUMBER PARTY"
And running around the bus, throwing things into his overnight bag that he will take to the hotel with him.

It's no big deal, I tell myself, it's just one night you'll be fine, as long as you don't have some sort of perverted sex dream about him, otherwise he'll know. He'll definitely know.

I pack my bag slowly and I see Matt walk onto the bus just as I've finished
"Alright idiots!" he calls out "gather around, I have the room keys for tonight and do I have to remind you that there is no time for partying? We need to be up and moving early in the morning so make sure you get some sleep! Ok here are your room keys Alex and Jack"

"BUT RIAN SAID THAT I COULD ROOM WITH ZACK" cried Jack and Matt looked at me questioningly, I shrugged and he sighed "fine Alex and Rian here are your keys"
Alex takes the keys before bounding off of the bus and into the lobby, Rianfollowing him a safe distance behind.

Matt holds out the next set of keys for me "here you go Zack" he says before the keys are plucked from his hand and shoved into Jack's jean pocket before he grabs my hand and drags me off of the bus and into the hotel, going on about how we are going to have so much fun tonight and all the things he wants to do (which of course include watching home alone and painting his toe nails) and all I can do is smile and nod while he opens the door to the room. Because who am I to tell him no?

We enter the room and drop our bags, me falling immeadiately onto the couch and stretching my legs out in front of me, there's no space to do this on the bus. Jack flutters about for a while doing god know what and I can hear a lot of banging but I'm not worried, what can go wrong? All I have to do is make sure that Jack doesn't find out my secret, pretend like I don't have a schoolgirl crush on him for the next 24 hours or so, and then everything will go back to normal. Won't it?