Blood for Blood, Hearts Beating

Vic was glued to his phone, laying on the couch like he didn’t have a care in the world. Jaime was sitting at the table with a huge plate of food in front of him. It was completely silent on the bus accept for the occasional snore coming from the bunk beds. Mike had been asleep for a good hour and a half.

He walked into the main area after waking up and stretching. Poor Mike was holding on to his shoulder in complete pain. “What the hell, man.”

Jaime looked up at him and put down his food. “Are you ok? You looked fucked up.”

“Last night while I was playing, my shoulder locked out of place.” He sat on the other couch on the other side of Vic. “Sure wish I had someone to sooth me.”

“Yeah, I know. I know.” Jaime followed him with major amusement. Jaime was the masseuse for the band. Over the years, there had been so many times when people have told him that he should become a masseuse. Standing behind him, he gripped onto his friend’s shoulders and started stretching out the skin.

Mike was in pure bliss. “Damn, that’s good.”

Vic looked up from his phone. “Sorry to tense you up some more, but have you guys seen Tony?”

The drummer and guitarist just looked at each other. “No.”

All of a sudden, the tour bus door opened. Jesse from Sleeping With Sirens stepped on the bus with a huge smile. The other guys followed. After the last guys stepped on the bus, Grace walked on with Freddy behind her.

She kept quiet unlike the other guys who were hugging their friends and taking a seat anywhere they wanted. Grace just stood by the door.

It’s not that she was exactly star struck, but she still couldn’t believe where she was. From what she had heard, both of these bands were rather popular.

Freddy was already sitting on a couch and left a spot open for her. “Grace, come sit down.” He then looked at his buddies. “Guys, this is Graciela Marquez.”

“You could just call me Grace if you want.”

“I know. But Graciela Marquez is such a fun name to say. Graciela Marquez.”

She took a seat next to him, feeling all strange. Once again, everyone was staring at her. The more they looked at her, the more she felt uncomfortable in her own skin. Like she should be as gorgeous as all of them were.

Kellin stood up and grabbed some beers from the fridge. “Anyone want a beer?” He threw them at his friends. “Grace?”

“No, I’m trying to not drink on this tour.”

Freddy put his arm over Grace. “Come on. No one stays sober on tour. I’d say Pierce The Veil is a perfect example.”

The three guys of that band looked at each other, laughing as they thought about all the stupid things that they had done while intoxicated.

Kellin pushed the Budweiser in her face. She felt so tempted to take it but she didn’t dare. The last thing she wanted was finding herself drunk and having Pink Elvira getting pissed off at her for having the slightest friendship with a band that they hated.

Kellin went to sit back in his seat. Vic jugged down a fraction of the bottle in his hand. “Man, this is going to be a fucking awesome Summer.”

As much as she could, Grace tried to get that thought in her head and believe it. She wanted to have a good Summer but her stomach hurt from thinking about it. “What makes you so sure that it will be perfect?”

“What makes you so sure that it won’t be?” Vic actually sounded a little mad when he said this. Not in a way where he hated her, just being confused as to why she was so unhappy.

Jack opened his mouth, trying to make Grace a little happier than what she appeared to be. “Tomorrow is the Warped Homecoming. You’ll see there just what this tour brings. I’ve never met anyone who has come and had a bad Summer.”

Freddy got a little closer to her. “You are going, aren’t you?”

The look on Grace’s face said it all. She really didn’t have to say a word for even a stranger to know what she was going to say. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. I have some work to do for Pink Elvira.”

“Do it before then. Everyone goes to this dance. Even those who aren’t in a band.” Freddy seemed a little upset at her.

Gabe almost spit his beer out of his mouth. A look of utter horror washed upon his face as he wiped his mouth from the beer that had begun to ooze out of it. “She’s not in a band? To top it off, she works for those bitches?”

“Yeah, problem?” For a moment, Freddy’s face heated up and he looked like he was going to hit Gabe.

Grace started to get a little fidgety. “I’m not one for performing on stage. I’m happy just being able to have a job that allows me to survive.”

This was almost shameful to Gabe. How could someone be ashamed to perform? Being able to do that was a gift that everyone should use.

For the next few hours, everyone on the bus got drunk, even Grace fell under the influence and had at least 5 beers. The time was spent laughing about everything and anything. Nothing was taken too seriously.

The thought of the missing band member never crossed their minds. Tony still wasn’t home and he almost seemed nonexistent.

Before they all knew it, it was 3 in the morning. Grace was confused as to how it happened. It did though and when she got back to the bus that she belonged to, she would be bitched at.