Maybe We'll Pretend Right Now

Much time passed, and the four of us grew extremely close. But Vic and I seemed to have a special bond that the other guys didn't have. We became best friends pretty much right away. We'd tell each other pretty much everything. I guess you could say we always were kind of closer than friends should be.

There were plenty of nights on tour when Vic would show up outside my bunk, 2am, completely shitfaced, looking for someone to cuddle with him. I would happily comply, it was nothing weird. Just an innocent comfort.

He had this girlfriend, her name was Cara. She was really everything to him. He was head over heels for that girl.

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At the time we were still touring in a van. Tony and I were sitting in my bunk after a show, sorting through a bunch of letters from fans. I think Mike was passed out on the bunk above us.

"Hey Tony, look at this," I held out an unfolded sheet of paper. On it was a very detailed description of what the girl wanted to do to Tony.

"Man, that's sick!" Tony grabbed the sheet of paper out of my hand with a disgusted look on his face. "Tie you up to the bed post," he began reading out loud, "slowly unzip your pants with my teeth, while you- what the fuck?!"

I laughed hysterically as Tony crumpled up the paper and threw it on the ground. "Some of these fans," I said, shaking my head.

Suddenly I heard the door of the van slide open. I turned my head and saw Vic stumbling in, a bottle of straight up vodka in his hand.

He squeezed in between me and Tony, sitting on our pile of notes. "Hello everyone," he greeted loudly, throwing an arm around my shoulders.

I shook him off and snatched the bottle out of his hand. He pouted at me, reaching out to try and take the bottle from my grasp.

"You gotta share with me," I chuckled. I began chugging the bottle, taking in way more than I should have at one time. I didn't care, though. Nights on tour were always full of alcohol.

I finished with a loud burp that burned horribly. Vic laughed at me and grabbed the bottle back out of my hands.

"Where's Cara?" Tony asked, out of nowhere. I was thinking the same thing; Cara always was following us on tour, and tonight shouldn't have been an exception.

Vic stood up and shook his head. "I don't know," he said, suddenly becoming serious.

"Why don't you go find her?" I suggested.

"I tried," Vic replied, scratching at the back of his neck, "but I think, uh, I don't know where she's at."

Just then Mike woke up. He hopped off of the wooden bunk that we had built into the van.

"Put the alcohol away, Vic," he said, rubbing his eyes.

Vic then tilted his head back and poured the remaining liquid from the bottle down his throat. He finished with a 'pop' of his lips and then threw the plastic container to his brother.

"No more, asshole, we need a singer on the rest of this tour," Mike playfully punched Vic's shoulder in order to warn him.

Mike never really drank, surprisingly. He was sort of like our mom while we were on tour. He was certainly good at keeping the three of us in line. No matter how hard we tried, he always had us right under his thumb. He controlled how much we drank, where we went, and what time we did pretty much anything.

"So who wants to go out tonight?" I decided to turn the subject away from Cara. She seemed to be stressing Vic out, and it was best to avoid that at all costs.

"I could go for a night out," Tony joined the conversation.

I nodded and stood up. "Anyone else?" I asked. Vic seemed to consider for a moment, and then raised his hand. "Count me in!" he yelled.

I looked at Mike and raised an eyebrow. He shook his head. "I think I'm gonna stick around here, I'm not feeling great tonight. You guys have fun and don't get too drunk, you hear me? Be back in time for bus call."

I rolled my eyes at Mike and slid open the door to the van. I left for the night club with Tony and Vic.

We got to the club and sat at the bar. I decided to flirt with the bartender. I was the only single one out of the three of us.

She was short with long, dark hair, a tiny waist, and a huge rack. Just my type.

I ordered a round of shots for Tony, Vic, and I. We gulped them down and sat talking for a minute or two before they decided to go dancing. "I think I'll stay here and talk with this lovely lady," I winked at the bartender. Tony and Vic disappeared into the crowd.

"It's Jamie, right?" the bartender asked, reaching her hand out to touch mine. I chucked and shook my head.

"It's pronounced Jaime," I responded.

She blushed slightly but quickly pulled herself together. "Sorry about that. I love your band, and you happen to be the hottest of them all," she winked. "My name's Teresa."

"Well Teresa, when's your shift over?" I replied smoothly.

She caught on quickly and began walking her fingers up the front of my shirt.

"I'm done in like five minutes. You wanna come into the back with me so we can get to know each other?" Her voice was extremely suggestive.

I agreed, and I won't fill you in on all of the details, but let's just say I got my action for that night.

After Teresa was out of sight, I went to find Tony and Vic. I'd had quite a bit to drink by that time and I was stumbling all over the place.

"Where's Vic?" I slurred upon finding Tony, who was sitting alone at a table with a bottle of beer in his hand. He was never a very classy guy.

"Cara showed up here, she was all bitchy about something. He left with her," Tony answered.

I stopped to think for a moment. What could she have been upset about?

"Tony, we've got to find them, bus call is like, now," I grabbed Tony by the wrist and forced him along with, out the door and up the street.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Vic's number. I was barely able to walk, so I sat down on the curb.

"No answer," I sighed. I decided to try again. Once more, there was no answer.

"Maybe they're having sex," Tony giggled. I shook my head and laid back on the sidewalk, trying to think of where they would be.

Tony shook his head and took a sip from his beer bottle. "Maybe they're back at the van already," he suggested. I shrugged my shoulders and sat back up.

"We might as well get back for bus call," I said. There was no point in wasting time looking around for them. Tony happily agreed, and we both stumbled the short distance up the road to where our van was parked.