Two Kids Stupid and Fearless

“Are you sure you have everything?” Jack asked me for the hundredth time in fifteen minutes. “Passport? Meds? Underwear?”

The day had finally come, Jack and I were leaving for Matt, his manager’s house, where we’d pack everything and then head to the airport, and, eventually, Dublin, Ireland. We each had a backpack and a giant, overpacked suitcase. I also had Agnes in her carrier, we were going to drop her off at Nicole’s.

“Yes Jack!” I yelled back, pushing him out the door. “Let’s go!”

“Fine, fine,” he grumbled. He locked the door, then followed me down the stairs. Our apartment building didn’t have an elevator, so no matter how giant our luggage, we had to haul it up and down four flights of stairs.

We reached the bottom, and Jack kicked open the door to the parking garage. We were taking my car, since it was bigger than his Honda Civic. I sat in the passenger seat with Agnes at my feet while he loaded our suitcases in the trunk.

He hopped in the car and started the engine. “To Nicole’s!”

~~~~~~~

We drove about a half hour until we reached Matt’s place, a small house in a run-down suburb on the outskirts of Queens. It was shabby, but it looked cozy and well-loved.

There were five cars in the driveway, and I counted thirteen people in all. The whole scene looked quite chaotic, everyone was rushing about with huge boxes and cases and bags. I could see something of a system worked out though. A few people were labelling the luggage and wrapping it in plastic wrap, other people were sorting it, and everyone else was putting it in the appropriate vehicle.

I exited the car timidly, hoping that my shyness wouldn’t kick in too bad and I wouldn’t say something stupid.

A tall girl, with brown and blonde hair and possibly the most gorgeous face I’d ever seen seemed to pop out of nowhere and introduce herself. “I’m Cassadee! But you can call me Cass,” She chirped. “I’m Rian’s girlfriend. You must be Mia, I’ve heard so much about you!” She smiled so huge I thought her face might break.

“Yeah, hi,” I mumbled back. I stuck out a hand for her to shake, but instead she wrapped me in a friendly bear hug.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to Lucy,” she continued, taking my wrist and pulling me along.

I followed her into the house, which was busier and messier than the scene outside, to an old, worn out, green couch in the living room. A blonde girl with black-framed glasses sat on it. She appeared to be sorting and folding merch and putting the shirts in separate boxes.

“Lucy, this is Mia, Jack’s girlfriend,” Cass announced. “Mia, this is Lucy, Evan’s girlfriend. She sings in There Goes the Neighborhood, the band we’re touring with.”

The blonde took a break from her sorting and smiled brightly up at me. “Hi Mia,” she said, giving a small wave. “I’m Lucy.”

“Hi,” I replied. Cass took a seat beside Lucy on the couch, and I sat next to her. They resumed sorting shirts, and I kind of wanted to help out, but I didn’t want to mess it up, so instead I made small talk.

“Where’s the rest of your band?” I asked.

Lucy finished folding a shirt before she answered me. “They’re at my manager’s house in New Jersey. Since I live with Evan, and we’re going to the same place anyways, I figured it made more sense to come here,” she explained.

I nodded. “Cool, cool. You guys excited?”

“Hell yeah!” Cass yelled. “I haven’t been to Europe in the longest time.”

“I’ve never been to Europe at all,” Lucy mused. “How bout you, Mia?”

“I’m actually kind of nervous,” I admitted. “But yeah, I’m excited.”

“What do you have to be nervous about?” Cass asked.

“I dunno, I can be shy. And it’s kinda scary, touring a foreign continent with people you don’t know,” I confessed.

Lucy nodded in understanding. “I know that feel.”

“Yo! Ladies! If you’re done gossiping, I’d like to get going to Europe now,” Alex called from the front door. I had hardly noticed that everyone had left the house.

“We’re coming, Alex, chill your boner,” Lucy shot back. Each of us picked up a cardboard box filled with merch and filed out the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took us nearly three hours to check in, check our luggage, get through security and onto the plane. We paid nearly two grand in fees for all the things we were bringing. They probably filled up a better part of the cargo part of the plane. I hoped the thing could actually get off the ground.

Jack and I had seats next to each other, me with the window seat. Evan and Lucy were in front of us, and both Alex’s were behind us. Rian, Cass, Zack, Colussy and Vinny were in the middle section. Jeff, Evan, Flyzik and two members of Lucy’s band that I hadn’t been introduced to yet were in the row in front of them. The other two members of TGTN were behind Alex and Alex. We took up almost two-thirds of the back section of the plane.

We had a ten hour flight ahead of us. We were set to land in Dublin around five pm their time, and we’d have a day to relax and unpack, with the first show the day after tomorrow. Knowing myself, I would have terrible jet lag for the first week, thus meaning I’d be super cranky.

A ginger flight attendant wearing a little too much perfume came down the aisle, and stopped when she reached Jack and I. “Sir, you’ll need to turn off your mobile,” she said in a thick Irish accent.

I could almost hear Jack roll his eyes as he clicked his phone off and stuffed it into the pocket of his hoodie. The flight attendant moved on down the aisle and disappeared into the crew members only area.

The engines roared to life, and I heard the last few seatbelts buckle as the plane started down the runway and into the sky.