The Most Unexpected Faces

ASHLEY’S POV

~

The anger that simmered inside spurred me on as I headed away from the Fairplex, intent on finding a bar.

Stupid Andy and his stupid friends! Trying to steal him away from us! They don’t know who they’re messing with!

I must have walked for a good forty five minutes before I stumbled along the street we passed through earlier. As I walked up, I scanned the various bar signs - I was looking for a particular type of bar. One where the beer is cold, the dancing is dirty, the music is loud and no one gives a damn. It didn’t take me long to find a place that seemed suitable. The bottoms of my cowboy boots scuffed along the dirty side walk as I headed up to the entrance of the bar – Characters Sports Bar. As soon as I entered, the smoke in the air engulfed me as did the voices of the people inside and the smell of beer.

Perfect…

I moved over to the bar where a line of bartenders stood, their hands constantly busy as people thrust money at them in exchange for a frosty glass of ale.

I pushed my way into the wave of people surrounding the sticky bar. It may have been rather rude but right then I didn't really care, I just wanted a pint.

"Can I get a pint of Bud?" I asked the blonde girl behind the bar, having to practically shout to be
heard above the noise of the other people.

"Sure thing, sugar" she winked at me and poured me one from the frosty tap. "You a regular? I haven't seen you around here before" she questioned, leaning right up against the bar. Probably wasn't a great move, the bar surface here is really sticky.

"Nope, just here for a show..." I trailed off, trying to show her that I was uninterested in her not so subtle attempt at flirting.

"Oh! You're here on that Warped Tour thing! Well, you know what they say about musicians..." she murmured in what I suppose she thought was a seductive tone. I nodded casually for her to continue, willing to humour her.

"Drummers hit it harder, bassists do it deeper, singers do it louder and guitarists finger fast... So what are you?"

I leant forward and looked into her eyes (hard task that, her eyelashes were coated in so much mascara it was kind of hard to see them) causing her to giggle irritatingly.

"What am I? … Not interested" I whispered, before leaning back, grabbing my pint and heading off into the crowds.

Okay, maybe that was a little mean... I can't find it in myself to care though...

The music in the bar was some punk rock song that had everyone dancing. The grinding bodies held no interest for me though; I was here to drink, not dance.

I settled down on the patio where a group of drunk teenagers were laughing and shoving each other about rather violently. There were a couple shouting at each other about ten metres away from me and a girl who looked around twenty sitting on the ground in the other direction. She appeared to be crying.

The darker side of Pomona's nightlife: Fights, booze and tears. The life plans of the lonely, broken and hurt.

With nothing else to do, I made my way over to the girl on the ground and dropped down beside her, tapping her shoulder.

"You alright?" I asked her, noticing the way her shoulders were shaking slightly under her long purple hair.

"I'm fine..." she murmured, even though I could see trails of tears on her cheeks.

"No, you're not..." I was all too used to being with fans who all tried to pretend they were fine. I know through experience though that it was usually all a lie. "What's wrong? It helps to talk about it sometimes" I didn't know why I was being so compassionate; of course I care about people, but I came out to forget about the problems of everyday life.

"It's just some friends, sometimes I feel like they're just using me and that they don't really care. One day they love me, next day they're ignoring me! I always feel like I've done something wrong and that I'm always making mistakes. I don't even know what to do anymore, I can't seem to keep anyone happy..." She told me sadly.

She stared down at her knees for a few seconds before tilting her head up to look at me fully.

"Sometimes I just feel so... Oh God, you're Ashley Purdy!" She straightened up and her cheeks reddened as she realised who I was. When she sat up fully, I noticed that she was wearing a Black Veil Brides top and one of our wristbands, she was probably at our show earlier.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she apologised, obviously thinking that I was annoyed at her outburst.

"Don't worry about it, okay? As for your friend troubles, you just have to remember one thing, really. True friends will stand by you through thick and thin. Only care for people who deserve it. Don't reserve space in your life and heart for people who don't make an effort to be in it. Stay strong, believe in yourself and don't take their crap"

She listened intently and when I finished she threw her arms around me, hugging me tight. I didn't just pat her back quickly and let her go like I did most people though, I actually hugged her for a bit. It probably had something to do with the way I could relate to some of her problems.

I feel like I must have done something to annoy Andy if he's off with his old friends, contemplating re-forming a band with them.

Maybe we didn’t mean that much to him in the beginning…

Maybe he’s happy to talk about to chat to them about that possibility because he just sees us as a way to kill time until he can find something better…

I felt that she was still shaking slightly in my arms, either from remaining tears or the cold. Either way it caused her to nuzzle into my chest and I was quite content to let her. I wasn’t the kind of jerk to push away someone who was hurting.

We sat there for a while - my beer getting warm in the Californian air - not speaking, just thinking about our own individual problems. Eventually we pulled apart and she looked up at me, her blue eyes now free of tears.

“It’s getting late, I should probably get going. Thanks Ashley. You know, you’re really nice. Some people out there have you pinned as an asshole ladies’ man. In my mind though, I know that you aren’t. Thanks for the good advice and thanks for making me feel better” she smiled warmly at me and hugged me once more before getting to her feet. She was about to leave when she suddenly turned back to me and laughed.

“I just realised that I never told you my name, it’s Phoenix”

I smiled as I realised that we had skipped all introductions and just got straight to a heart to heart. I guess sometimes it’s people you don’t know that can offer the most comfort.

“You probably get this all the time but I guess there’s no harm in giving you my number?” she asked shyly. I didn’t see any reason why not and handed her over my iPhone so that she could save her number into my contacts. She seemed like a nice person, it might be good to have someone I can text when I need a dose of normality; our lives on tour are a whirlwind of crazy in comparison.

“Awesome” I took my phone back and slid it into my jeans pocket.

Once she’d left I turned back to where we were sitting, noticing that my beer was still on the ground, warm and untouched.

That’s funny, Andy pushed me to drinking and a stranger pushed me away from it…

I’ve got to talk to Andy, find out what he’s going to do about the situation. If we mean nothing to him then… fuck, I don’t even know what I’d do if all of this was a lie.

My heart felt really heavy in my chest as I made my way back to the bus. The bad thing about not drinking was that all of the night’s events were present and replaying in my head. After a long, lonely walk home, I finally saw the bus up ahead. I didn’t want to see Andy tonight, not at all. I used my key to the bus and climbed aboard, noticing the way all the lights were off inside and everyone appeared to be asleep. When I checked the clock on the wall, I realised it was gone one am.

No wonder they’re in bed then, we’re all exhausted after we play shows.

I approached the bunk area and then realised I had to make a choice. Usually, I always crawled into Andy’s bunk with him and we slept together at the top. I just couldn’t find it in myself to climb up the extra steps tonight though.

Every night on each and every one of our previous tours I had crashed in Andy’s bunk.

Tonight though, for the first time ever, I climbed into my own bed and fell asleep with no one beside me.