Scream Over The Sound

“Okay, that’s the last of it,” the hairs on the back of my neck stood as Vic announced that all the bags were all packed up in the trunk. “So what about the equipment?” His voice was so hypnotic. I couldn’t wait to hear him sing live. I’m such a creep.

Just then, we heard tires screech against the concrete car park floor. Another van just like mine pulled up about 5 feet away from my toes. “Geez Louis, Toby,” I shouted at my buddy in the van.

“I’m sorry!” he jumped out of the vehicle, not even bothered to shut off the engine first. “I got held up at the toll, I didn’t have enough change!”

I rolled my eyes at him and grabbed him by the arm. “Please, Toby, this is an important job. It’s the best one yet too,” I hissed. “And they all know we work as a team! If you get sacked I get sacked!”

“Everything alright there?” Kevin, the band manager asked.

“Oh yea, sorry, Alex here wanted to make sure I didn’t entirely screw up her chances of being close to her favourite band,” Toby is useless. I kicked him in the shin, “OW!”

“Anyways,” I said loudly and quickly. “Toby’s van is going to the concert venue and my van’s going to your temporary apartment.”

“So where do I go?” Mike asked me with sly smile, batting his eyelashes.

“Wherever you--.”

“SHOTGUN!” Mike yelled out before I could even finish and dashed for my passenger’s seat.

“Well, alright then,” I looked up at Vic to see him fiddling with his phone. “What about the rest of you or am I gonna have to baby sit Mike all by myself?”

Tony walked towards me near the door of the van and whispered, “I wouldn’t want to have you go through all that trouble alone,” and winked, throwing his bag in the far back seat of my van.

Jaime followed right after Tony’s lead and Vic just stayed put. Oh please oh please let Vic come in my van. I suddenly heard my mind hiss. Wait, stop fan-girling, geez. C’mon Vic, c’mon now--, “Vic, c’mon!” the words accidentally left my mouth. Oh shites. “Uh… You wouldn’t wanna miss out on all the fun now, would you?” Phew, that was a close one.

“Oh?” he finally looked up from his phone, “I’m sorry, yeah I’m coming.” I wondered what was so interesting on his phone.

Kevin agreed that the roadies and him would go to the concert arena first and so we all got settled in our respective vans and were off onto the highway. I drove while Mike sat next to me whilst Vic sat behind my seat, Jaime behind Mike’s and Tony right at the back, all by himself.

“Are these yours?” Mike shuffled through the CD’s that were found in the glove compartment. “3D, Homesick, Blue Sky Noise! Oh! I love Circa Survive!” Mike yelled like a little 10 year old.

“Homesick and 3D belongs to my boss, but the rest are mine,” I smiled, proud to have something in common with Mike.

“And is this yours too?” I heard Tony snicker. I turned around to see him holding their own album Collide In The Sky. Well gee, yeah it was mine. “What’s it doing all the way back here?”

“Didn’t that guy Toby say we are your favourite band?” Jaime teased, passing the album over to Mike.

“Are we?” Vic’s gentle voice suddenly spoke up. I froze. I didn’t want them to think I was a creep, though evidently, I’ll admit I am.

What do I say? What do I say? Oh c’mon, Alex, you’re more slick then this. Oh! “Yes. And Mike, you were right,” I put on a creepy face, you know, like that Overly Attached Girlfriend? “I’m going to take all of you to a warehouse where I’ll actually tie you up and keep you with me so we can perform every act in 50 Shades Of Grey with each other,” and the van went still.

A bit too still.

“Guys, breathe? I was joking,” I nudged Mike.

After what seemed like ages, the boys learnt how to breathe again. I looked through the rear view mirror and saw Vic break into a small smile. He looked back and said, “You’re gonna fit in just fine with us, Alex, I just know it.”

“I’m glad to know that,” more glad to have changed the subject of my favourite band above everything else.

“So hey, kid, can we stop by that gas station. I need to take a whizz. You kind of scared the piss out of me back there,” Mike laughed.

“Me too, I need to pee,” Jaime announced.

“Thanks for the information, Jaime,” I looked back at him. We pulled by the gas station that was near us and I shifted the gear to park. The two boys went straight to the toilet and Tony jumped out looking for a drink.

“Want anything?” he asked, but both Vic and I shook our heads.

Well, so we were alone. I took out my phone and started checking the vitals, Twitter and Facebook and stuff. Trying to distract my wandering thoughts that could’ve led to wandering hands. I mean being in a van alone with Vic isn’t exactly my most innocent thought. OKAY, I’m a fan girl.

“Oh hey, you’ve got an iPhone too?” Vic said, coming between my seat and the passenger’s to get a closer look. He then climbed into Mike’s seat and shifted his body so he was directly facing me.

“Yeah, I don’t think I could live without it,” I dramatically said, pressing it against my chest. “Hey wouldn’t Mike mind?” I asked, gesturing to the passenger’s seat.

The boys came filing back into van. Mike stopped outside the passenger’s window, smirked at Vic and went to the back instead.

“Nope, don’t think he minds,” Vic turned back to me and smiled, his eyes always locked on mine. I shrugged and backed the car out and went straight back on the highway. And so quietly, Vic smirked and whispered, “Besides, it’s my turn,” I cocked an eyebrow at him, not sure what he meant. “It wouldn’t be fair to me if he got to sit next to you the whole ride.” He giggled a little and turned to face out the window, as if he didn’t just flirt with me.

So can I just die happy now?

An hour on the road later.

The van was quiet as the boys were all sleeping. It was 4pm here so that would’ve been probably about 4am in America, where they had just flown from. I didn’t mind driving alone. It was still pretty overwhelming to think that the boys of Pierce The Veil were all around me. I smiled at the thought of that.

“What are you smiling at, huh?” I jumped at Vic’s raspy, I’ve-just-woken-up voice.

“Were you watching me?” I smiled, keeping my eyes on the road. I was burning up with embarrassment; I didn’t want him to see my face.

“Can I see your phone?” he asked, changing the subject. Huh. Damnit. I passed him my phone and he looked at it as if it were a baby in a test tube. “4S or 4?”

“4S.”

“Oh great! Have you tried any of the new games? The new ones are really awesome,” he jittered, suddenly wide awake.

“Uh… No, Vic. I kinda like my phone free of games. If it had any games, my little kid brother would never let it go!”

“Oh yeah, me too, not into games,” he said and I giggled at his sudden change of interest. Wow, well he’s a charming one now, isn’t he? “Besides if my phone had games, Mike would never let it go,” he sassed me. I just felt like reaching over and pinching his cheeks. I was so frustrated with his cuteness.

“Hey? How do you dial in Malaysian numbers from international phones?” he asked unlocking his phone and opening a keypad.

“Well, you put a +6 in front of the mobile or house phone number,” I explained.

“Example?” he prodded.

“Okay try my number, +6 013 031 9128,” I said and he keyed it in. He punched call and my phone rang in his other hand.

“Okay, cool thanks. So usually people would just say, ‘my number is 013 bla bla bla’ right? And all I have to do is add the +6 in front?” he reconfirmed.

“Yes sir,” I politely replied.

“Okay so it’s just Alex? Or is Alex short for something?” he asked.

“HEY! Did you just trick me into giving you my number?” my eyes widened when I saw him open up his contact list. My heart pounded in my ears. This is so exciting!

“And if I did, would you have been impressed?” he smiled and passed me back my phone.

“Maybe. And IF I were impressed, would that give you some sort of satisfaction?” I countered his question.

“Oh look! This is our place right?” he avoided my question and kicked the door open before I even came to a complete stop at the Suria Apartments. He shook the van awake and popped the trunk open.

I silently smiled to myself and thought, gee, what am I going to do with this boy?