Pretty Little Wallflower

Viola squinted, trying to avoid the harsh glare of the rising sun as she walked down the rows of buses. When she found the one with the mustache on the front, she smiled and opened the door. Light snoring filled the bus and she figured most were sleeping off their hangovers. She tried to be as quiet as possible as she walked past the bunks and into the back lounge, where she found her backpack sitting in a corner, opened. A jolt sent through her body in panic, until she saw a knocked out Vic on the ground with her camera in his hands. She walked over to it and tried to gently pull it from his grasp, checking it for damage as she sat on the leather couch. Once it started up, she let out a breath of relief, her pride and joy was alive and well. Wondering why Vic had it, Viola began scanning through her pictures. She giggled as she went through them; apparently the party was far from over after she’d left because there was plenty of evidence on the camera. Vic took plenty of himself, all silly faces, along with some of the rest of the crew.
“Hey,” Vic tried getting up from the ground, groaned and just laid back down.
“Be warned, you were almost murdered,” Viola spoke with an eyebrow raised.
“I’d say I’m sorry, but honestly I wouldn’t know what I was sorry for,” Vic responded, his voice muffled by his hands over his face. He looked at her and gave her a smile, slowly getting up and sitting next to her. Trying to look at what Viola was looking at, he rested his head on her shoulder.
“Oh my god,” he laughed when he saw a picture of Kevin, their tour manager, with his shirt off and spreading whip cream on himself.
“Looks like you had much fun with my camera last night, without my permission.”
“Won’t happen again, scout’s honor,” Vic raised his hand to seal the oath, looking at her without removing his head from her shoulder. “Come out with us tonight after the show, we have tomorrow off before we head to Chula Vista. We’re gonna go hit up some bars, my treat to make up for stealing your camera, yeah?”
“I don’t really like to drink,” Viola reminded Vic. Her eyes remained on the camera as Vic’s remained on her. She didn’t want to turn to face him and have both their faces in such close proximities of each other, it made her uncomfortable. So she kept aimlessly flipping through the pictures, figuring they’d make good photos for her Warped portfolio.
“But you have drank before though, right?”
“Yeah…”
“So one night, you don’t have to get wasted, just come out with us. It’ll just be us, some of the crew, you can take pictures if you want. It’ll be fun,” she could sense Vic’s pleading smile as his breath hit her neck.
“He—Uh, what’s up?” Tony entered the lounge before Viola could answer, her eyes shot up from her camera when she heard Tony’s voice raise a pitch.
“Um, just getting my camera,” Viola answered. She got up and went to the corner to stick her camera in her backpack and go.
“Wait, are you down? Please?” Vic got up from the couch.
“Eh, yeah, maybe, sure,” Viola looked back and shot him a forced smile, trying not to be rude.
“I’ll see you guys later,” she smiled at Tony as she squeezed by him, who was leaning by the door.
“What was that?” Tony asked Vic once he’d lain down on the couch again.
“I asked her to come out with us tonight,” Vic smiled at his band mate, hands resting behind his head.
“But she doesn’t drink,” Tony attested through a clenched jaw. He wasn’t asking about their conversation, he was wondering why they were so close to each other, and why Viola allowed it. He didn’t like the picture that was painted in front of him; it made his insides turn out.
“Well I guess I changed her mind, lucky me, huh? What’s up with you though?” Vic asked, noticing Tony’s tense posture.
“Nothing, I’m going to go shower. You should too, you reek.”

---

“Single file line, ladies and gents,” Jaime opened the door to a taxi van, allowing everyone to hop in. After ensuring that Adam would be joining as a form of comfort, Viola had decided to go. Jaime got into the passenger seat and gave the man directions. Everyone was excited to have what they called “family time”. Viola had expressed her discomfort with intruding on their time meant for only Pierce the Veil and the crew, but Vic assured her that Adam was family, and ergo so was Viola.
“It’ll be fun, right Adam,” Vic looked at Viola, discomfort evident on her face. It wasn’t because of the fact that she was going out though, it was the fact that Vic was sitting next to her. He was friendly, but the attention disturbed her, hating the idea of someone having eyes on her all the time.
“Hell yeah,” Adam replied from a row back. She looked back at him, and then to Tony who was sitting next to him. He looked sullen, only glancing at her and then Back out the window.
They reached their destination, and Vic paid the taxi. As they were heading towards the bar, Viola lagged behind a little, pulling Mike with her.
“What’s up?” He asked, looking down at her.
“What’s wrong with Tony?” She asked him as she tilted her head up. She saw him smile and gave him a face. “Stop it!”
“Come on, it’s cute, you care,” he laughed, resting his arm on her head. “I’m not sure, little one, he’s been acting different since he woke up I think. He even missed an interview, said he wasn’t feeling well. Why don’t you ask him?”
“I think it has to do with me,” she frowned, stopping in her tracks. Mike walked a couple steps before he realized she wasn’t following anymore.
“Why?”
“Well I left my backpack in your bus last night, so I went to go get it. Vic was there, in the back lounge, we were just talking. I can’t say too much because I don’t know Tony’s personality or characteristics, but I’d never seen such a twisted look on his face. I thought he was mad at me for a second.” Taking such a gut feeling to heart wasn’t like Viola, she never liked assuming, but she had to tell somebody.
“So you admit he likes you?” The tall man in a red flannel looked at her, placing his hands in his pockets with a smug smile.
“Never mind,” Viola was beginning to feel frustrated. There were so many unspoken things going on since she’d arrived to Warped Tour, and she hated it. There was definitely something about Tony, though she couldn’t place it. Adam and Mike always pushing Tony on her even though they barely spoke to each other made her uneasy, and then there was some undeclared hostility between her and the shaggy haired, tattoo-covered guitarist and she’d finally had enough. There was never a place in time where she’d been as confused as she was now, never in her life had she had some sort of clandestine connection that even she wasn’t aware of.
“Wait, Viola,” Mike caught up to the small girl with uncanny speed.
“No, Mike, I’m tired of this secret shit,” Mike was taken back for a second, he’d never heard her curse before, “I don’t know what’s going on. I’m so confused! There’s so many people, so many things. I get here, and this guy that was relatively insignificant to me who I sold sandwiches and coffee to ends up here too, and you can’t stop telling me how in love he is with me, someone he doesn’t even know. I’ve never even spoken more than a couple sentences to him! We made eye contact a few times, does that mean we should get married!?”
“Whoa, little one, calm your ass. I was only teasing you. He does like you, love I can’t say, but he really does like you.” He grabbed her shoulders as she breathed in heavily, trying to calm her frustration.
“It’s not just you, it’s Adam too. And then there’s Vic, and I just—I don’t know. I just don’t know. This is all really weird. There’s so many unspoken things floating around, I don’t like it. I just don’t know.” Viola couldn’t look at Mike in the eyes even as he stared down at her with condoling frown. She’d just lost her composure and she detested it. It wasn’t like her, to lose self-control over anything. She’d tried so hard to keep her head above water, but she’d finally broke.
“Hey, what the hell, are you coming?” Jaime yelled from the entrance of the bar with Chris next to him hailing them over.
“I just don’t know,” Viola reiterated, turning around and heading towards the bar. Mike stood there for a while, thinking how uncomfortable being placed in a completely different scene must feel like. Adam had mentioned she rarely left her apartment, a true homebody. And now she was placed here, a tour where you never got an ounce of privacy. She wasn’t coping well with the exposure, and he wished he could help her, but she didn’t seem like she thought she needed it.

“Where were you? And where’s Mike?” Adam asked as he got up from the booth they had chosen, letting her scoot in next to Vic. Tony was on the other end, talking with Kevin and Michelle, the assistant manager.
“We’re just slow pokes,” Viola smiled, “He’s coming in a second.”
“Well everyone else already got their drinks. Hey Tony, why don’t you get us some drinks,” Vic nodded at his band mate at the end of the booth, “something fruity for her and you know what I like. Oh, and Mike too?”
Tony looked over at Vic, a look of resentment in his eyes that Vic must’ve been unaware of. Everyone held their breath as they waited for Tony to speak. Vic wasn’t a bad guy, but there was something noticeably brewing between the two and it was beginning to boil.
“Sure,” Tony forced a smile, “be right back.” He got up from the table and headed to the bar. When he returned, Mike had squeezed into the booth.
“Jack and Coke,” Tony placed the drink in front of Mike who thanked him, “I got you Sex on the Beach, pretty sure it’s the fruitiest drink,” Tony blushed as he handed it to Viola, “ Here ‘ya go,” He slid Vic’s drink to him.
“Budweiser,” Vic made a face as he took a sip, holding his glass up a bit.
“Of course, your favorite,” Tony replied with a straight face, their eyes locked. The chatter in the booth quitted down, letting the music and side conversations drown the bar.
“So… who wants to dance?” Jaime broke the silence, “because I know I do! Tony, let us through?” Tony slid out of his chair hesitantly as Jaime, Michelle and Casey, the guitar tech, slid out, leaving the rest to deal with the awkward situation. Everyone did their best to continue drinking and having a god time, but the night wasn’t as fantastic as they’d hoped for.
Viola allowed herself to drink, her small figure only allowing her two very tall glasses of Sex on the Beach before becoming clearly tipsy. She never went on the dance floor, but she got to know Chris and Kevin better, discussing their life on tour and silly stories of working with Pierce the Veil. Kevin had mentioned being on the scene for almost ten years, and although Viola thought that being on the road constantly for that long would be exhausting, Kevin said it was the best job in the world.
“My friends and family, are these guys,” He smiled, putting and arm around Mike, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” This made Viola wonder what awaited him at home, if anything, when they got a break from tour.
“I’m gonna go grab smoke, but please continue your titillating conversation,” Mike mocked as he slid out of the booth.
“I’ll join you,” Viola didn’t hesitate, yearning to get away from the room full of people.

Mike lit up as soon as they were out, blowing the smoke in Viola’s face.
“Hey!” she waved her hand in front of her, dispersing the smoke.
“You said you liked the smell,” he defended himself, taking a seat on the curb.
“Not in my eyes,” Viola attested as she sat next to him. “I’m sorry about earlier, snapping at you. I don’t usually do that, I pinky promise.”
“It’s cool, seeing a friskier side of sweet and harmless Viola,” a smirk played on his lips.
“Stop,” Viola blushed, narrowing her eyes, feigning offense.
“Seriously though, I get it. I didn’t mean to throw Tony on you or anything, and I know you guys barely talk, but it’s because he’s shy. Plus, he’s going through a pretty tough break up, he’s not himself lately.”
“I didn’t know that,” Viola felt bad for whatever Tony was going through, “What happened?”
“The obvious one? Distance. It was always kinda hard when he was on the road, some people just can’t handle it. They’d been going out for a little over three years, and I guess maybe she thought she could tie him down and stop going away so much if they got married. She brought it up, but Tony didn’t want it. We just started getting the exposure we’ve been waiting for, we’re even talking about our own headlining tour in the fall, you know? Our dreams are beginning to unravel. This is all really important to us, but she didn’t see it. It’s understandable I guess, but you have to compromise when you’re dating someone like us, who’s only home a couple weeks out of the year. She wasn’t willing to do that, and Tony wanted to wait…she didn’t.”
“Wow, I did not expect that,” Viola marveled. She could only imagine being in that girl’s shoes, being shut down from a marriage proposal. But she was doing it all wrong, Viola thought to herself, for the wrong reasons it seemed. It still must be horrible, and she felt for Tony.
“Yeah, the worst part is she’s on tour too. I haven’t seen her, but she’s supposed to be working a booth, for a clothing line.” They stayed quiet for a few minutes, a moment of silence for Tony’s fallen relationship.
“What happened inside though, I’m guessing Budweiser isn’t Vic’s favorite?” Viola had been playing in her mind with what had taken place, the unfriendly exchange in words.
“Oh man! That was intense! I’d never seen them like that,” Mike laughed, truly bewildered with what had taken place. “Tony knows he hates it, he did it on purpose.”
“Why though?” She asked. Mike blew out smoke out of his nose as they heard a pair of feet step out of the bar shakily. It was Tony.
“Hey man, what are you doing out here?” Mike asked, looking a Viola.
“There’s a lot of people in there,” he laughed lightly.
“Well come sit,” and he did so right on the other side of Viola, as Mike put out his cigarette on the sidewalk, “I was just leaving.” Viola turned to Mike, her eyes wide. He just smiled and patted her back as he got up.
“See you ladies inside,” he winked. Tony and Viola looked at him, blushing. Viola’s arms were extended on her legs, her chin resting on them as Tony spoke to her.
“Why are you out here?” He asked, fiddling with his hands.
“Besides the fact that I’m socially awkward?” She joked, bringing a smile out of him. His smile made her smile.
“You’re not socially awkward, you just think you are,” he assured her. “If anyone is awkward it’s me.”
“Just a little bit,” Viola brought up her index and thumb.
“Gee, thanks,” he chuckled.
“I’m just kidding,” Viola bumped her shoulder against Tony’s, sending a sense of euphoria throughout his body. “You’re really great on stage, by the way. I’ve been wanting to tell you, but I haven’t gotten a chance to. Vic always beats me to the punch.”
“He’s been doing that a lot lately,” Tony muttered.
“Huh?”
“Nothing,” Tony decided against repeating himself, “Thanks though.” She knew what she’d heard, but Viola didn’t want to pry. There was something going on between Vic and Tony and she wasn’t sure she wanted to find out what it was.
“Should we go back inside?” She asked him instead.
“Maybe we can stay out here a little longer,” Tony suggested, as he looked into the big brown orbs on the girl next to him.
“Works for me,” She smiled. Her answer made him smile wider than she’d ever seen, and he was glad he came outside when he did; for the opportunity it granted.
Viola realized she preferred his silent company instead of the crowds of people inside the bar. The elated and warm feeling of the alcohol had begun wearing off, but a different one was now taking its place.