Pictures on Silence

I stepped off the bus after Spencer and hissed, stumbling backwards into Brendon. All of them laughed as they watched me huddle in on myself on the dark steps of the bus, covering my face.

"I had no idea you were a vampire," Jon commented. I squinted at them from between my fingers. "Don't be such a drama queen."

"You don't go blind when you step outside," I countered. With a sigh, I wiped a hand over my face and grimaced when it came away with the faint glimmer of sweat. "Heavy sunlight and I have a terrible relationship; goes back to my ancestors, who did not intend me to dwell in ninety-plus degree weather."

"Didn't you say you're a quarter Italian?" Brendon asked, adjusting his glasses.

"Yeah. Northern Italian. Just south of the Alps."

"Fine, fine," Jon conceded, waving his hands, "Just stay in the bus and be bored. We'll be back in a couple hours." I waggled my fingers at them and shut the door, thanking every deity I could think of for the invention of air conditioning.

If aliens kidnapped me and let me have unlimited access to only one means of entertainment for the rest of eternity, I'd be perfectly happy with music. So in celebration of this, I plugged my iPod into my portable speakers and rocked out while I cleaned the bus, a habit I picked up from who-knows-where. Though, cleaning is harder when you have shades of OCD and temporarily live with college-age guys.

After The Stills' "Lola Stars and Stripes", shuffle spat out one of the few hip-hop songs I had: Sean Paul's "Get Busy". And of course, when a beat like that comes on, you have to dance. Like your first night at Fight Club.

About halfway into the song, I realised I wasn't the only one dancing. I stood stock-still and tried to keep a straight face as all four of the guys showed off their moves. When the song ended, I applauded and burst into hysterics.

"Whatever, Pasty McVampire," Brendon scoffed, going further into the bus, "You were dancing too."

Things settled down after a while-- most of which we spent joking around and busting moves-- as we drove north and east towards Vegas. How Bren, Spence, and Ryan must have felt, coming home after such a huge change in lifestyle, I had no idea, but hopefully I would one day. Some day soon.

Feeling that I had slacked off for the past week of Sean, Matt, and Jesse's absence, I cracked down and reviewed the songs we'd recorded for the album; this mainly consisted of lying on the floor with my feet on the couch and playing air-bass with headphones on. And no one found it strange at all.

"Could you stop that please?" Ryan asked, voice barely decipherable above the music.

I sat halfway up, pulling out a bud; I'd involuntarily began moving my foot, thus constantly tapping him in the side. "Sorry," I apologised. "Reflex."

"'Sokay." We both went back to our occupancies, but after a few minutes he tapped my shin. "What are you listening to?"

Smiling embarrassedly, I replied, "Our upcoming album. I found I can perform the songs better when I listen to them like any other band."

"Can I get a sneak peek?" Ryan asked, putting on a cute face.

I heaved a sigh. "Fine," I groaned fakely. "But if you sell us over the internet, you're going down, Ross." He laughed and crossed his heart, so I rolled backwards and retrieved my other headphones and splitter. He held out his hand for them when I situated myself back on the floor, but I bid him, "Oh no, you have to come down here to listen."

Ryan shook his head in exasperation but complied anyway, and I gave him my better-quality DJ headphones; they made his hair stick out in funny angles, which made me smile. I started the song over and held my iPod in my hand between us.

The guitar faded in through the sounds Matt added in the studio, making for a haunting tone, and soon my voice came through. I made a face at the ceiling of the bus and reminded myself to insist upon redoing it later.

"~The leaves will fall
And so will you
When you do, bury me under them too
Seconds pass; we'll make it through
Eventually we all go home
It won't be long
It won't be long...~"

The instrumentals continued peacefully and then a crash of heavy melodies flooded our ears just long enough to fall out again, leaving only the vocals and guitar.

"~We walk along the wire tied between horizons
You close your eyes like it's nothing at all
Throughout the rise and fall, everything, everything
Changes, I will be here when you die...~"

My voice faded out again, and the guitar was joined by drums, bass, and piano, escalating in power and feeling with every second. My heart leapt when Ryan's hand brushed over mine, but I lost the sound of my pulse when he increased the volume.

"~It won't be long
It won't be long
Until we find our way home~"

I shut my eyes and let the music crash through me, fingers moving in time to my understated section. It truly amazed me that I had a part in something as masterful as this. I helped some incredibly talented people to create this.

Then the guitar part grew louder with that strange, lingering noise as the others faded, and my voice, accompanied by Sean's, came on again.

"~Did you hear the trumpets play the day your father died?
Did a violin swell those circles under your eyes?
Did you play the part straight, like a marcher?
Get lost in the beat, thinking and feeling
Did the drums in the streets make the people dance?
Or fall to their knees as the sound?
Knock the leaves from the trees
As they fall from the branch, the look beautiful
As they hung in the air
Spinning around
Did you float in the air?
Spinning around~

"~There must be somewhere that cigarettes burn through the night
And the leaves don't abandon their trees to the light
Where the skies always clear
And the summer never ends~

"~Won't you take me there?~"

I winced and opened my eyes at the notes I hit. That sounds terrible, I rebuked myself. Notes like that make me wish I could scream just a little bit. Swallowing, I glanced over at Ryan, who lay with his eyes shut beside me. A tranquil yet concentrated look graced his features, and I found myself staring intently at him as the song wound down. Without thinking, I sang along with the mp3.

"~The leaves will fall
So will you
When you do, bury me under them too
Seconds pass; we'll make it through
Eventually we all are going home.~"

My breath died with the last syllable, and Ryan opened his eyes. He turned his head towards me and we stared at each other for what seemed an eternity. A smile spread across his face.

"You're amazing," he said. Staring into his eyes, I didn't reply. "If this is the quality of the whole album, you'll go triple platinum." I bit my lip, smiling; for once in my life, I actually took a compliment to heart. Someone liked our music. My music.

"You really like it?" I asked, almost not willing to believe him.

Ryan grinned. "I love it." I turned my head towards the ceiling; were it not attached by ventricles and arteries, my heart would have burst out of my chest and floated up into space. Love it.

Lifting up my hips, I fished my cell phone out of my pocket and scrolled down to 'Trillion'. I imitated the noises I knew his phone was making, making Ryan laugh. However, he didn't pick up, and I rolled my eyes at his answering message.

"Trill, tell Matt I changed my mind about rerecording those two tracks," I requested. He had caller i.d. and recognised my voice; why should I say who I am?

I pressed end on my phone and held it on my stomach. I drew in a breath and let it out with a rickety laugh towards Ryan. He laughed with me, though about what we laughed I had no idea.

"What are they laughing about?" I heard Jon ask Spencer in a loud whisper.

"I have no idea," Spencer whispered back loudly.

I looked over at them, and back at Ryan, and we both burst into laughter again.

Hey, if you can't laugh, you take up politics.