The Most Unexpected Faces

ANDY’S POV

~

The day slipped by while I stayed in in my stunned state. I felt hollow like a mannequin; on the outside I was the same as ever but on the inside it was like there was nothing anyone. I just felt empty. The only person to notice anything was – of course – Ashley. Even if I hadn’t alerted him that something was up he would have noticed my change in mood; sometimes I swear he knows me better than I know myself.

We dropped back behind the rest of the group on the way inside the venue and Ashley used this as an opportunity to quiz me on what happened earlier. Of course, to him they were just normal techs, the same as the rest of our on-tour crew. Then I had to go and make him suspicious.

I couldn’t have just kept it to myself, could I? I thought, mocking myself for my lack of ability to hide my surprise.

“Andy, what was that? Who are they?” He started to fire off questions at me as we went from walking slowly to standing still about 100 metres from the Fairplex entrance. I was about to open my mouth and pass the whole thing of as nothing or try to persuade him that I didn’t know them and that I’d made a mistake before I realised something. He would have seen right through this though; as I said earlier, he knows me better than I know myself. Seeing no reason to lie I decided to tell him.

“I know those guys. It may been a few years since I last saw them but I’d recognise them anywhere” I started and actually waited for a few seconds as I knew that Ashley would feel the need to interject here rather than let me continue. Sure enough my pause was needed and he started talking so quickly it was practically an extension from my sentence.

“You knew them when you were in high school? Who were they, like bullies or jocks?” he questioned seriously and gestured with his hand for me to continue on impatiently as if I was about to die through lack of answering.

“First of all, you would have known if you hadn’t interrupted to ask a question I was about to answer but that’s not relevant anymore. No, they weren’t. They were my friends funnily enough” I replied, confusing him.

“I thought you said they weren’t friends of yours?”

“They’re not anymore. They were though, my closest actually” I said offhandedly as if the detail wasn’t all that important but I decided to include it anyway.

“Well, what happened?!” I needed to wrap this story up quick before the guys came back out to look for us. Just because I was willing to tell Ashley didn’t mean I needed everyone to know. Yeah, I’ll tell them later but I don’t want everyone to be stressed out before the show; I know for a fact that I will be right up until we go on and the music takes over as I know they’re nearby. The only reason I’m telling Ashley right now is because I know for a fact that he won’t drop it until I tell him. He’d probably ask me a question on stage in the middle of a song if he wanted the answer bad enough.

“Right. Well the techs are called Chris, Jack and Zander and let’s just say this isn’t the first time I’ve been linked to them musically. They were the lead guitarist, bassist and rhythm guitarist of my old band. The one Craig and I were in…” I explained slowly, preparing myself for the explosion that was sure to become of Ashley’s brain.

“What?...”

“Yeah” I confirmed to Ashley who appeared deep in thought before suddenly snapping out of it.

“Wait, did they know what Craig was doing to you?!” he asked appalled and disbelieving. He wasn’t going to like my next answer; I knew that much.

“I don’t think they knew the full extent or realised quite how serious it was until the day I walked out. But yes, they knew. And they just stood back and let it happen around them…” I could feel tears building behind my eyes but I refused to let them fall; I would spill no more tears over people who didn’t deserve me to even look in their direction.

“Fuck. Well there is no way they’re teching for us! I’m going to Rob; I want them out of here!” Ashley started moving with purpose towards the venue entrance in search of our tour manager but I caught up to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop once again.

“No Ash, don’t rush into decisions like this. First of all we actually need them; we won’t be able to find immediate and reliable replacements on such short notice and we can’t afford to be under-staffed with a tight schedule to keep. Secondly, I want to know why they’re here. They obviously knew I was a part of this band when they applied; I want to know why they came back. Thirdly, I’m done running and hiding and letting others fight my battles. They’re going to give me the answers I deserve and then they’re going to fuck off out of my life again whether they like it or not. For once, I’m in control of the situation.”
I laid out my reasoning to Ashley who nodded along, taking in and understanding my points as I stated them.

“Okay then” he agreed with a small nod “but, under no circumstances are you to be completely alone with them. It may be being over-cautious but I nearly lost you once and there is no way in hell I’m risking it happening again” he added firmly. I agreed easily with his request and we finally started making our way towards the venue for our first show – satisfied with the decisions made.

As we were escorted by a young woman wearing a headset over to the area where our changing/dressing rooms were I heard a phone start ringing and saw Ashley retrieve his mobile from his illegally tight jeans and answer the call.

“Hello?”

“Yeah, we’re on our way now, I can see our area”

“Yeah he’s with me”

“Oh great! He’ll be delighted!” Ashley chuckled.

“Awesome, see you in a minute C”

“Bye”

Only being able to hear one side of the conversation left me confused and curious.

“What will make me delighted?” I asked him cautiously, preparing for an innuendo which he may or may not make.

“C.C says that the Warped Tour managers actually took your request for Skippy’s Super Chunk peanut butter on our rider seriously and have stocked up on it for us. They even left us a little note thanking us! Apparently that is the simplest and cheapest rider request they have ever had and where as some bands want weird expensive coffee makers and shit we simply want toast toppings and sandwich fillers” Ashley informed me to my internal joy. Well, it was internal for only a couple of seconds as then I had to signal my joy out loud with a “WOOP!”

I have a thing for Skippy’s Super Chunk, okay?

The blonde haired woman finished showing us to our area and wished us a cheery good luck for tonight before darting off into the army of other staff milling around between area’s; all loaded up with jobs to do and tasks which needed completing to make tonight a success. Yeah, it’s our bands up on stage but I have to admit, it’s the staff, managers and roadies that really make this thing work and function properly. They really do an amazing job; I must remember to thank them on stage tonight for having us here and making this happen.

As me and Ashley made our way into the green-painted area we linked hands again, safe in the knowledge that only the other guys and possibly our tour manager would be inside.
Jake and Jinxx greeted us with a lovely “well look who finally made it!” and a “seriously did you crawl here?”. They’re pleasant buggers, aren’t they? I didn’t care though; I was a man on a mission!

“C.C!” I called out over the top of the others chattering. “SHOW ME TO THE SKIPPY’S!” I commanded with my finger in the air like the dignified dictator I am. After a jar of the fine substance was procured and my peanut butter craving was satisfied I joined the other guys who were arguing over who was the fastest at getting ready and getting to places. I felt the need to let them all know the true answer to the question and joined straight into the conversation.

“Actually, I think you’ll all find that I am the fastest. Have you seen my gazelle legs?”

“Yeah, Andy can trample over the competition!” C.C added in from across the room.

We all messed about a bit like we usually did before shows. No matter how many times we’d done it before we all still got pre-show jitters so mucking around like we do is our way of taking our minds off it.

Soon enough though the time came around to start getting ready for the show and we all had to delay our mini-arguments until after the show.

Our dressing room wasn’t much, it was green painted walls and a piece of paper with Black Veil Brides printed on it blu-tacked to the door but none the less it felt like we’d come home. This is where we belong.

“Warpaint time?” Ashley asked, smiling up at me.

“Warpaint time” I agreed.