My Warped Summer

Allison's Point of View

“Hi!” I say brightly as the first fan greets me at the table clutching a poster for me to sign. The girl, about fourteen or fifteen, smiles and waves at me as I pick up a silver Sharpie.

“Who should I make it out to?” I ask, popping off the cap.

“Angie.” She says, bouncing up and down with excitement.

“Oh, cute name,” I tell her and give her a signature with a flourish. As I wrote, the girl finally piped up.

“Y’alls set was amazing. You were even better than Alex. She could never have hit those notes.”

I laughed and replied, “Thank you. To tell you the truth, I’ve never really done this before, so I was a bit nervous.”

“You totally shouldn’t be!” She said. “You guys are awesome.” And with that, she took her poster and moved down the table to get the other member’s signatures.

Okay, she was adorable. Slowly but surely, we went down the line of fans, signing posters and CDs. Funnily enough, even though Scarlet and I didn’t have any part of their recorded music, the fans still asked for our signatures. It was the most amazing feeling to know that that one performance won the hearts of the fans so quickly. We got ton’s of “You guys were awesome” and “Welcome to the band.” They were so supportive and welcoming, I could barely sit there without getting emotional.

As I was finally finishing up with the last signature, I felt a shadow looming over me. I reached for the Sharpie I accidentally knocked on the ground earlier and asked, as I always had, “Who should I make it out to?”

A very melodic and familiar voice said, “Vic, please.”

With that, I whipped my head up to find none other than Vic Fuentes smirking at me from across the table. Oh my God. I immediately sat up straighter and awkwardly tried to brush my hair through my fingers to make it look even the slightest bit presentable. Vic laughed.

“I’m still waiting for that signature,” he said, crossing his hands over his chest.

“Really?” I ask, attempting to sound cool and collected. “What do you want me sign?”

Vic looks around for a bit and then grabs the snapback hat off of his head. He places it on the table and pushes it toward me. Popping the cap off the Sharpie, I take the hat and sign my name on the bill of his hat. He gives me a smirk once again and examines the hat.

“Sweet,” Vic says, placing it back onto his head. “So,” he continues as he leans on the table, exposing his muscular arms. “That was an awesome set you guys did there. And you did a great job covering King for a Day.”

I push the falling hair back from my face, attempting to hide my cheeks threatening to blush.
“Thanks,” I tell him, giving a shy smile. “It was my first time performing out there, so I was pretty nervous.

“Between you and me,” he said, leaning in towards me, “I still get nervous before every show, too.” I finally register the close space between us and look down at my hands.

“Even after all this time?” I ask, glancing back up with a curious look.

“All this time,” he says, pushing his hands off the table. “So, I was thinking maybe later you should-” Vic starts, but Genevieve, who had just finished with her posters cut him off.

“You know, Vic,” she says coolly. “You should probably be getting back to your bus by now.”

Vic gives a glance at Genevieve I couldn’t decipher. He clears his throat and turns toward Genevieve.

“I probably should be.” He says, as abrupt and cold as she. He turns to leave and gives me an apologetic look. “See you later, Allison.”

Vic walks away, headed toward the Pierce the Veil bus on the other side of parking lot. Once he was out of hearing range, Scarlet let her plastered smile slip into anger.

“What the fuck is your problem?” She said to Genevieve. Genevieve just crossed her arms and shrugged.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, of course you know what I’m talking about,” Scarlet said throwing her hands up. “My friend was clearly having a conversation and you cut it off.” She paused and gave a menacing glare. “Not okay.”

“Oh, come on-” Genevieve started, but Cassie shouted over her.

“Are we really going to fight like this again?” Cassie, stood up and smoothed down her plaid skirt. “We just got done with an amazing set, followed by an amazing signing. Let’s not ruin it.” Emma stood up alongside her.

“I second that motion,” she says and motions for the others come with her. “Come on, let’s go get some celebratory lunch.”

We all stand up and follow Cassie out of the signing tent. As we make our way back to our bus, I trot forward to catch up with Emma.

“Hey,” I whisper. “What was that all about?” Emma gives a sigh and looks very serious.

“Vic and Genevieve have somewhat of a history,” Emma says, making sure Genevieve was behind us. Sure enough, she was sauntering in the back, trailing behind Cassie and Scarlet avidly talking about tattoos they plan on getting. “They dated for a long time a while back, and she’s still not quite over it.”

I scoff. “Then why would she be mad at him talking to me?” I ask. “Like Vic freaking Fuentes would ever be interested in me.” Emma gives a doubtful look.

“Honey, did you see the way he was flirting with you?” She says with a sly smile.“He was all over you.”
I once again push the falling hair out of my eyes.

“I don’t believe you,” I tell her sticking out my tongue for dramatic effect. Just then, Scarlet comes up beside me, tapping violently on my shoulder.

“Hey, Allison can you sign my hat?” She pretends to take a hat off her head and sticks her empty hand in front of my face. I laugh and give her a friendly shove.

“Very funny,” I mutter, smiling to myself.

*#*

We all changed into normal clothes and went out for some burgers for lunch. While we were eating, Cassie made Scarlet and Genevieve form a “truce” to stop fighting all the time. We’ll see how long that lasts. After lunch, we went back to Warped to sort out some legal stuff with Rob, the Girls in Skirts manager. He seemed like a pretty cool guy, seeing as he didn’t completely freak out when Cassie told them what had happened to the previous members. He actually seemed rather happy about having me and Scarlet in the band. He was really pleased with our performance earlier and said we make great replacements.

After we were done signing contracts and being inducted into the band, Scarlet and I walked back to my car to get the bags we left. I checked my phone after all morning to find my mom’s caller ID filling the screen with missed calls and text messages. I sighed, realizing I would need to talk this out with her. I turned off my phone and promised myself I’d give her a call later.

Scarlet and I made our way back to the bus and started to help out with getting ready for tomorrow’s driving trip. We leave tonight, sometime around three in the morning, giving us time to get everything situated. Once we all finished, Rob let us go off and do our own thing for the rest of the day. While we had time, Scarlet and I went off to go see some bands we planned on seeing before this whole thing started. We only went to two sets, Of Mice & Men and Sleeping with Sirens, which Scar and I both had a blast in. By the time we finished, it was nearly 8 p.m., and by now, only the smaller bands were playing.

As Scar and I approached the bus, we found Vic pacing nervously in front the door.

Scarlet gave me an elbow to the ribs and whispered, “Get some!” And boarded the bus, not giving Vic a second glance.

“Hey,” Vic said to me, pushing his hands in his pockets. “I thought you were inside.” He gave a nod toward the bus behind him.

“Nope,” I said. “Scar and I went to go see some bands while there was still time.” I gestured to the door Scarlet had just flew through.

“Ah,” he said, taking one of his hands out of his pockets to brush the hair out of his face. “So, hey, I never got to finish what I was going to ask you earlier.” He begins to walk towards me. “The guys and I are going out to this after-party celebrating the first day here at Warped. And I was wondering if you and the rest your band would like to come.”

My heart thumped with every step he took closer.

“Sure,” I say, hopefully not sounding as off-centered as I felt. “I’ll just talk to the rest of the band.”
Vic smiled, putting his hands back in his pockets.

“Great,” he said. “Meet me at the main tent at nine. See you there.” And with that, he brushed past me and headed away.