Write It Down, Without a Sound

July 23rd

Dear Journal,
I swear John has sonic hearing and eyes in the back of his head or something. He woke me up again – he’s quite a good alarm clock some mornings – and talked me into helping him on the morning coffee run. He was dragging me out the bus before I could even get changed out of my PJs. Luckily enough you can’t actually tell they are pyjamas, not that I would care if people could anyway. We had to walk a couple of streets over from where the bus was parked and John was practically bouncing the whole way. For someone who just got out of bed he was way too excited.

I was thinking about asking what the mood was about when he grinned and said, out loud, without warning “I can’t believe you’re Kennedy’s girlfriend! About time he said something.” I near on didn’t see the crack on the ground and landed on my face. Either John didn’t notice my surprise or ignored it because he swung his arm over my shoulder and pulled me along to the coffee shop. It wasn’t until we got there and waiting for our order that I was about to have time to pull out my trusty notebook and ask how he knew.

Of course he’s answer was: “I’m the magical John, I know all.” Typical.

Kennedy and I haven’t even mentioned the words girlfriend and boyfriend yet, there’s nothing official so it makes me wonder how John found out and what he knows. Thankfully if he does know much it’s harmless, but annoyed teasing.

When we got back to the bus everyone else was finally awake. By the time all the coffee and the food was gone it was time to set everything up for the day. Today was a lot cooler than what it has been over the last two weeks which was a nice change. At this point I can’t wait until autumn and its cool weather. I’m not a summer person by far and the heat we’ve been having was ridiculous.

I missed the guy’s sound check and the start of the set in favour of cleaning the bus. It was getting to the point that it really needed it, dirt and smell wise. Everyone on the bus is quite tidy but being so many people in such a small area it’s hard to keep clean. I even mopped the floor and found ten dollars in change under the couch cushions. Afterwards I rushed over to watch the guys set and took photos.

When I get home I’m going to print out all my best photo’s I took all tour and decorate a wall in my bedroom, top to bottom, like a big feature wall. It will look amazing! At least that’s my plan anyway.

After bus call when we finally set off to the next city, Kennedy, Garrett and I watched Ice Age one and two in the back lounge. Pat joined us at the start of the second one when he realised we had all the movie goodies with us. I’m going to have to do a lot of walking tomorrow to work off all the sugar I ate tonight. I ate ¾ of a chocolate bar all to myself in an hour, not the best idea ever.

Thankfully it didn’t make me feel sick at all. I let Kennedy eat the rest and got a kiss on the cheek in silent thanks.

Good thing the room was dark, I seriously blush too easily. And If I have to hear one more sex on the bus joke from John aimed at me and Kennedy I’m going to throw my flip-flop at his head. Though I think Kennedy might throw something first by the glare he gave John earlier.

Boys will be boys and John will be John.

And Garrett just stole Guard Bunny again...

July 24th

Dear Journal,
Today was a day off, for the techs anyway. The band was out almost all day doing interviews, a photo shoot and a radio interview or something. I didn’t pay much attention because I was half asleep in my bunk when they were herded out of the bus. Jared grabbed my ankle and did a half hearted attempt to pull me out of bed, didn’t work. Pat started tickling my foot and that almost made me fall out of the bunk.

Kennedy gave me a kiss on the cheek before leaving. It was quite sweet that he bothered despite Tim yelling at them about being late. I like how our relationship has changed but at the same time it hasn’t. It’s still simple as it was before, just more affection. And it’s nice the rest of the guys seem quite alright about it, besides John’s playful teasing.

Right after I went to get my Guard Bunny from Garrett last night he cornered me and said the whole ‘if you break his heart...’ speech. It would have been a great speech if he didn’t falter half way through trying not to laugh; I know he was being serious though. Apparently he said the same thing to Kennedy, now that would have been interesting to see. Our friends are amazing, crazy and weird.

With half of the people off the bus, the rest of us sprawled out enjoying the space while we had it. It was quiet for the most part to allow who wanted to sleep in, a chance to do so and so Nate could have a good sleep. The odd working hours must really wear you down by the time the tour is over and it must be a hard job. I haven’t heard him complain yet though, not a single word. I went back to sleep after the band and Tim left and slept ‘til about eleven.

There wasn’t much I wanted to do and there was no shopping trips out (not that I was interested in that today either) so for a long time I read and played Kingdom Hearts 3D. I got pretty far into the game and all but squealed when I found out that Axel was still alive. Just goes to show how deep into the series I am. Good thing I the amount of noises I can make is limited because that would have been embarrassing to explain.

Jarred and Kennedy texted me randomly about what they were doing and the weird things Pat was up to during the photo shoot. Then John started texting me his count of ‘supper hot to drool for chic’s’ that I swear must have been out of boredom. And to probably annoy the one of the interviewers that wasn’t being very nice to the guys. It’s like people that do interviews are either nice or a total bitch, not much of in-between, not that I have seen on this tour anyway. No wonder a lot of bands hate doing anything involving press.

When the band and Tim did eventually get back to the bus, someone declared a board game night. There ain’t much board game on the bus, but there were a few packs of cards. No one knew how to play Pick Up Two, so I ended up have to teach a few of the guys and write down all the rules on a whiteboard. They got the hang of it quickly but I remained undefeated. Jared said he’s going to practice and beat me; I’d like to see that happen. Some of the guy started a game of monopoly that went for four hours in the back lounge and still hadn’t finished when everyone went to bed. It was funny watching it though and I ended up helping Garrett for a while tag teaming. We both aren’t really good at that game. I usually prefer games like Trouble.

Watching them got boring after a while and the bickering wasn’t funny anymore so I decided to go to bed. I had planned on either reading or messing around on my laptop but Kennedy appeared moments after I got settled. I have no idea how but he managed to fit himself into the bunk without having to lie on top of me. It was a really tight fit though; these bunks are hardly made for one person let alone two.

We talked for a long while which eventually led to old tour stories Kennedy wanted to share. He said he’s going to show me his tour photo albums when we get back home. I’m looking forward to that; he said he had some really awesome pictures of things they have seen when they had off time. After a while we went quite and he started to drift off. I made him go to his own bunk before he could fall out of mine. Falling from chest height would really fucking hurt and have a good chance of breaking something.

And now that I have written about today I’m going to sleep too. ‘night.

July 25th

Dear Journal,
Today was awesome. The best water fight EVER.

The band didn’t have their set until late afternoon so most of the morning was free. It was a really hot day today; I could feel it when I walked off the bus at nine, the heat in the air and the humidity threatening to clog my lungs. Right away I knew it would be a scorcher and it was. I don’t know what the temp actually hit but I’m sure I could have fried an egg on the bus’s roof at 2 o’clock.

I don’t know who or how the guys managed to get their hands on a box full of water guns but one minute we were ‘debating’ (as Pat said) about how to get another kiddies pool and the next we were all being dragged outside and being told to leave anything non-waterproof inside. Garrett shoved two full guns in my hands (one big battery powered water soaker and a small pocket sized one) and ran off, but not before squirting me in the face. I chased after him, only to lose him and ended up getting John square in the back. And boy, did he leap!

It turned into a free for all after that, we were running around our bus and trailer screaming, yelling and letting water fly everywhere. There were only four rules: don’t go in the bus, don’t climb onto the bus roof, if you are out of water you must show that you are refilling and if you get shot after announcing you get a free shot at that person, and don’t go outside the marked area around the bus. Everything was fairly equal until people started forming teams and that’s when other people joined in (Jack Barakat, Pete Wentz, guys from This Century, and a couple of others. There was a lot of pass-a-biers watching by then) people who wasn’t in a team and got stuck in the cross fire, like me, got soaked. Jared, Pat and I got singled out and decided to join forces.

Turns out Jared had a hidden stash of water bombs he had been saving for the right moment. We managed to sneak away and full up almost 150 of them in record time. Alex Gaskarth and Patrick Stump helped a little but the others don’t know that. Us three hit back with vengeance and won the war. By the time we got through the bombs the others were that wet they had to drip dry before being allowed to enter the bus. It was one of the funniest and most awesome moments on the tour!

My cheeks are sore from all the smiling and laughing I did.

Kennedy tried to wrap me up in a bear hug after I threw my last water bombs at him, I got away when he realised his tank top had stretched from the water down to almost knee high. It looked like a dress! Tim got a photo for me.

When the guys went to go on stage all but Pat and Jared were still wearing damp clothes. We all tried to get Kennedy on stage before he could change his shirt-now-dress but it didn’t work. It would have been hilarious though.

The show was really good, the band on fire for the most of it but by the time everything was packed away and had time to sit down for a moment most of us were tuckered out. Everyone packed it in early for a movie night in the back lounge. They ended up watching Scary Movie; I wasn’t all that interested in it so I spent the better part of the movie watch the street lights flash past the bus while we were on the freeway.

Today was a really good day and I hope we get another chance at a water fight like that before going home. I can’t wait to see the videos that were taken! Defiantly one of the best days on tour!