We Say Summer

With a groan, I rolled over in my bunk and groped my hand around under my pillow, searching for my vibrating phone. When I found the annoying piece of technology that was disturbing my sleep and glanced at the screen, another groan escaped my mouth.

“Douchebag, what the hell do you want?” I shouted, since his bunk was below mine. He had sent me a text that simply read ‘HALEY!’, which gave me no clue as to why he felt the need to interrupt my much needed nap. “It better be good, too, since you woke me up.”

From Stephen’s bunk, I could hear muffled laughter and a few seconds later, my phone buzzed again. Holding the glowing screen closer to my face, I read the newest text from Stephen: ‘HALEY BO BALEY!’

“You are a stupid boy,” I informed him before flopping back down on my pillow and closing my eyes to go back to sleep. But before I surrendered to dreams and snoring, I mumbled one more threat to Stephen. “If you send me one more text, I will kick your ass, Douchebag. Find someone else to bother.”

Just as I fell into that completely peaceful place between awake and asleep, the curtain of my bunk was yanked open and I was hit square in the back with something soft, yet firm.

“The hell!” I exclaimed as I rolled over in my bunk once again. Standing before me, with pillow still in hand, was Stephen. “What the hell did you do that for?”

“It’s time for you to get up,” Stephen told me and bent down to his bunk. “Matt said that we’re about to arrive at the first stop.”

When he stood back up to his full height, the pillow was gone from his hand and replaced by his cell phone. On his way out into the main area of the bus, he ruffled my already messy hair and grinned goofily.

Early yesterday afternoon, Stephen, Dad, Uncle Jack, and I arrived in California after a nearly six hour long flight. After checking into our hotel room, Stephen and I hit up the pool and stayed there for the rest of the afternoon. For dinner, we ordered room service, then channel surfed. By eight, I was fast asleep.

By nine o’clock this morning, the four of us were checked out of the hotel and on the bus, joining the other half of the band and the crew. As soon as I found out which bunk was mine, I unpacked my bedding and went back to sleep.

“Haley, c’mon, get up,” Uncle Rian’s voice coaxed as he walked into the bunk area. “We’re at the first stop. Don’t you want to explore and wreak havok?”

While the idea of running around the venue grounds with Stephen, meeting any of the other kids who were traveling with their parents, and perhaps pulling a prank or two sounded appealing to me, staying in my bunk for another hour or two sounded even more appealing.

“I’m too tired to wreak havok right now, Uncle Rian,” I whined and pulled my blanket over my head.

“You’re decent - I can open your curtain, right?” Uncle Rian asked. When I mumbled a yes, my curtain was pulled open and my blanket was tugged off of my head. “Come on, Hals, get up. You and I both know for a fact that you are never too tired to cause some trouble.”

As much I hated to admit it, he was right. In fact, some of my best pranks had been pulled when I was severely sleep deprived.

“Why do you always have to be right?” I grumbled as I rolled over to face Uncle Rian. “It’s rather annoying, you know.”

Uncle Rian laughed and flashed me his perfect, blinding smile. “You think everything is annoying,” he pointed out before ruffling the rat’s nest I called hair. “Stephen’s waiting for you, so you better hurry up. He’s pretty anxious to get off the bus.”

Rolling my eyes, I hopped down from my bunk and shuffled into the tiny bathroom toward the back of the bus. Of course Stephen was anxious to get off the bus. In order to not keep Stephen waiting because God forbid he wait, I quickly took care of my business in the bathroom and went back out into the main area of the bus, where he was sitting on the couch and staring longingly at the open door at the front of the bus.

“Could you please look a little less pathetic, Douchebag,” I grumbled as I looked for my other Converse sneaker. “As soon as I find my other shoe, we’ll go outside and explore. Now stop looking like a wounded puppy.”

Something hit me in my leg and when I looked down, my other red lowtop was laying next to my foot.

“There’s your sneaker. Let’s go,” Stephen whined as he tugged me toward the door leading off of the bus.

I yanked my arm out of his grip and planted my feet firmly on the ground. “Can I actually put on my sneakers first?”

While he looked downright impatient, Stephen waited for me to slip on my sneakers. Once I stood back up and dusted some invisible dirt from my shorts, he looped his arm through mine and we bounded off of the bus.

As soon as we got outside, Dad spotted us and came jogging over. “Haley, remember to-”

“Yeah, I know,” I said. “Talk to strangers, get someone to smuggle me beer, and have sex with random guys behind merch tents.”

“Alright, go have fun.” Dad wrapped his arms around me in a quick hug. “No calls from the cops this time! Matt was pissed the last time and said that he’s not bailing you out again.”

“We know. He’s already told us that...repeatedly,” Stephen told Dad. “We’ll try our best to stay out of trouble. No promises, though.”

I had to snicker at Stephen’s comment. The three of us knew that Stephen and I were going to make no attempt to stay out of trouble.

“Alright, that’s enough chit-chat,” I said and pulled on Stephen’s arm. “We have things to see, people to do.”

“No sex, Haley. I mean it!” Dad called as we walked away.

“What if they’re really hot?”

“No sex!”

Laughing, I broke into a run with Stephen in tow. Once we were a safe distance from the bus, I slowed down and leaned against one of the many other bands on this tour’s bus to catch my breath.

“Did you get the ‘no sex’ lecture, too?” I asked Stephen.

He rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed huff. “Twice.”

“From who?”

Stephen pushed his hair out of his eyes, then crossed his arms over his chest. “Both of the ‘rents. Mom took it seriously, but not so much Dad. I’m pretty sure he only talked to me about it because Mom made him.”

I chuckled to myself and shook my head. Aunt Sam tried her best to keep Stephen's innocence alive as long as possible, but with Jack Barakat as his father, that mission was pretty much pointless.

We wandered around, looking for any other kids that were touring with their parents, and ran into the daughter of one of the guys from Pierce the Veil. We were walking by The Maine's merch tent when I recognized a familiar dirty-blond haired boy standing with Garrett Nickelsen and Jared Monaco.

“The Sixth!” I shouted and ran over to him, throwing my arms around him. He lifted me off of my feet and swung me around. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Same for you. But here we are,” John O’Callaghan VI, or The Sixth, as I called him, said with a smile. “Hey, Stephen.”

We separated and while he and Stephen did that bro hug thing, I gave him a look-over. I had always thought The Sixth was cute, even when we were just kids and girls weren’t supposed to find boys cute. Thankfully, he had gotten even more attractive from the last time I saw him, nearly three years ago.

"So where's the other half of the O'Callaghan duo?" I asked The Sixth, referring to his twin sister, when he and Stephen finished their bro hug.

"She stayed home to help Mom with the bakery," he said. "But you'll see her when we're in Phoenix."

With a big smile on my face, I nodded. Katy O’Callaghan was one of the coolest girls I knew and I loved hanging out with her. But due to the whole issue of living on opposite sides of the country, we didn’t get to see much of each other.

"Where's the rest of mini All Time Low?" The Sixth asked.

"Luce is on the road with Cassadee, Tyler is staying with their grandparents, and Josh got stuck with summer school." Stephen said, explaining the absences of Uncle Rian's two kids and Uncle Zack's one kid.

The Sixth scrunched up his face in a displeased way and shook his head. “Aw man, the dreaded summer school. I just barely escaped having to go myself. Science is not my forte.”

Before Stephen or I could get a word out, the cell phone in The Sixth’s hand started ringing. He glanced down at it, then looked to Stephen and I with an apologetic smile on his face. “Sorry, guys, I have to take this. But I’ll see you at the bonfire tonight, right?”

“Yeah, we’ll definitely be there!” I accepted his hug and waved as he walked away. As soon as he was out of earshot, I let out a rather girlish squeal and jumped around excitedly. “Sweet baby Jesus, did you see him?” I asked Stephen.

“Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “What about him?”

“He’s gorgeous! I wouldn’t mind having him in my bunk with me.”

Stephen rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I love how you sometimes forget that I’m a guy and don’t want to talk about that stuff.”

“Someone has the hots for John Oh Jr., hm?”

When I turned around, Garrett and Jared were grinning like fools at me. I could have smacked myself for forgetting that they were there and babbling about their friend’s (gorgeous) son right in front of them.

“Maybe...” I sing-songed and latched onto Stephen’s arm to pull him away. “Not a word of it to him, though.”

“My lips are sealed,” Jared promised and mimed zipping his lips shut, then throwing away the key.

“No blabbing, either.” I pointed at Garrett, who went through the same motions as Jared. “Thanks, guys. See you later!”

As Stephen and I walked away from the two grinning men, I noticed the butterflies fluttering around my stomach and smiled.