Blood for Blood, Hearts Beating

It was so peaceful in the continental breakfast area. No one was being obnoxiously loud, but it wasn’t completely quiet either. Many people were hung over from partying in room 6703 all night with their whiskey and vodka. Although many of the same people were still sleeping, there was a good majority of them downstairs.

It was rather funny. There were lots of commoners enjoying their breakfasts with their families but not one person recognized them. Not even the teenagers were all over them. Well, unless they thought they were hot, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Grace was sitting at a two person table eating her omelet all alone. She wasn’t all that lonely. Actually, knowing what could be happening, the conversations with either Tony or Freddy would have been disastrous.

Jess had an orange juice and a bowl of cereal in her hand as she walked up and sat down across from Grace. “Good morning, Grace.”

“Hi, Jess.” Why would Jess out of everyone at Warped Tour come to talk to her? They had nothing in common and as it’s been told over and over again. Everyone in Pink Elvira hated her for the most part.

“I hear you weren’t on the list to get a room. So tell me, how did you get one? Did you show the manager your suite?” She picked up her orange juice and took a sip from the straw.

Grace kept an eye on the Pierce the Veil table. There was only the Fuentes brothers and Jaime. Vic got a glimpse of her staring at him before she looked back at one of her bosses.

As Jess put her drink down, she began to speak again. “We don’t pay you enough to afford a hotel room for even one night. That’s why all of us want to know.”

“Don’t worry about it, Jess.”

“But I do worry. You see, Graciela, you’re on a job. Not on a vacation. Don’t get any ideas that people want you around. Sarah was about to fire you before the tour. Marissa almost killed her sister and Sarah for having you aboard in the first place. I didn’t want you to leave. You’re half way decent with the job.”

A smile appeared on Grace’s face. “Really?”

Jess put her finger up. “Keep away from the bands though. Wouldn’t you hate to burden them with your presence?”

“What if they actually liked me being around?”

“My point is that everyone has so much work to do and that includes you. Just don’t get in the way of anyone and you’ll be on good terms with us.”

Any happiness was gone from Grace. She already knew that Warped would be terrible but she just couldn’t help feeling so let down whenever someone brought her down.

“Hey, I’m sorry Graciela. I didn’t mean to bring you so down. Be happy that you have a job that allows you to keep your mind off your family and life.”

Talk of her family got Grace very mad. “Don’t talk about my family! You don’t even know them.”

“I know them enough to know that you should be grateful for right now. Family is shit. That’s a part of life.” Jess frowned, picked herself up from the chair and walked out of the dining hall.

When he got the chance, Vic walked up and sat down at the table where Jess had just been sitting. He picked up a napkin and moved the glass. “It’s a good thing she left.”

“And why do you say that, Vic? She’s better than most.” Grace was already upset which meant it would be a bad day.

Vic got close to Grace. “Why do you defend them so much and push away people who could actually care about you?”

“You don’t care. No one at Warped Tour cares about me. I’m a parasite.”

A smile took place on Vic. “Ah, but you don’t believe that. Do you? It’s pretty damn clear to see that Freddy cares about you. He introduced you to us, Sleeping With Sirens. He was right. You’re a really cool kid.”

“Cool? The first day of Warped, I tripped, dropping everything in front of everyone. Just yesterday, I. . . .”

Vic cut her off. “Rumor has it that Sarah tripped you.”

“She did not trip me. She asked me to hold some stuff for her and I ended up losing my balance. I’m such a klutz here.”

“You are so clueless aren’t you? How can you not see what these girls do to you? Everyone can see it, but you.”

As calmly as she could, she cleaned her face of whatever could have stuck to her face from her meal and put the napkin down politely. “I’m not clueless, ok?”

Grace stood up and walked to the tea table as Vic followed her. “So you know exactly what they do?”

“They’re fine artists as they are people.” She picked up a mug, picking a tea from the wide arrangements. She looked at Vic who just shook his head. “What?”

He scratched the back of his neck and headed over to the table where Jaime and Mike were sitting. She came along with him and sat in the empty seat.

“Hi, Jaime and Mike.” Grace said this sweetly.

Jaime gave her a big smile and hugged her. “Morning, Grace.”

When she looked over at Mike, he wouldn’t even look at her. He kept his concentration on his coffee. It made Grace uncomfortable and Vic saw that.

“Don’t worry about him. He had a heavy night.”

Mike kicked his brother from under the table and gave him a glare. It was obvious that he didn’t want much to do with Grace. He wasn’t afraid of showing that. She couldn’t come up with a reason as to why. Worst case scenario would be that he thought she was a huge band slut.

It was Vic who broke the silence. “So, Jaime, how would you classify Pink Elvira?”

He shook his head as to say he didn’t want to talk about it. “I’m not saying a word in front of their merch girl.”

“You can say in front of me. I won’t repeat it. I’m almost convinced that they don’t know the sound of my voice.”

Clearly, he wanted to say because he didn’t let a second go by before he started gossiping. “Tell you the truth then, they’re sellouts. They aren’t friendly with bands they tour with.” For a quick second, he paused to do a fake cough. “And they don’t give a shit about their fans. I don’t understand them.”

“Which is why you shouldn’t judge them. They’re not horrible monsters. They have their issues. They’ve been through a lot.”

Vic took a deep breath. “Listen, I’m not anyone to say anything to you. I don’t know you well but what I’m going to tell you is to be careful.”

“Why would I need you to tell me to be careful?

“Because I’ve seen the damage they’ve caused and I don’t want to see anything happen to you.”

“I’ll be fine.” Grace didn’t exactly believe herself after Vic’s little speech. Deep inside her, she knew that Vic was right and that they could destroy her easily.