The Sky Under the Sea

[Bo]

“Great job tonight guys! We killed it, definitely one of our best shows so far.” Jeremy, our lead guitarist shouted as we walked off stage. I grinned at him, the buzz of a great performance singing through my veins.


“I know! I can’t believe it’s our last one though, but I’m so happy that we finally got to play Festival Hall.” I said taking a sip of my water bottle.


Soon enough we’d put our instruments away, and heading backstage. As we walked into the dressing room of the Melbourne venue, I spied a man in dark jeans and a suit coat standing in the corner of the room awkwardly.


“Can I help you?” I asked, grabbing a towel to mop the sweat off my face.


“Hi. My name is AJ, nice to meet you. I’m a band scout.” His accent was American, but I didn’t know who he was.


“Bo Thompson, pleasure to meet you.” I held out my towel-free hand and we shook. “This is Chloe Ferguson, our drummer.” She held up her hand. “And this is Jeremy Waters and Sam Lewis, our guitarists.” I motioned to them.


“I know who you all are. I’m here on behalf of the Vans Warped Tour, you might have heard of it?” AJ said.


“You mean the best musical festival on Earth? Of course we have.” Chloe chimed in, joining me over the side of the room.


“You guys have been quite the buzz over the water, so they sent me down to check you guys out. And, I’m pretty impressed. I caught both your shows in Sydney, and now tonight. You guys have some great potential.”
My heart starting beating louder, if that were even possible. 
A band scout? From America? For Warped Tour? No, it couldn’t be..


“There’s a spot on the tour list with your name on it, if you’re interested.”

Chloe nearly leapt through the roof.


“HELL YES!”

All I could do was grin as the rest of my band mates went insane.


“We’d love to.”

I said enthusiastically.
 He smiled. 


“I thought that’s what you’d say.” He reached into his back pocket.
 “Here are my details, why don't you give us a call in a few days to sort out your flights and all that sort of thing? Congrats again!” He handed me his card and walked out, flashing us a big smile.


I couldn’t believe it. 
We were playing Warped Tour, in America.

~ Time Lapse: Two weeks ~

“Are you sure we have everything packed?” Jeremy said, for the millionth time. It was 5am, and we’d all been up for hours despite the early time. Today was the day we flew out to America, and in a few days time Warped Tour kicked off. The butterflies did flips in my stomach at the thought.


“Yes Jeremy. We’ve packed and re-packed about a million times, and our gear is already in transit. Relax.” I rolled my eyes.


“Let’s go, America is waiting.”

Chloe grinned, holding up her bag. It only took a few minutes to pile the rest of our bags into the car, and we were on our way to the airport.


The hour drive sped by, all four of us unable to sit still from the excitement.

I called AJ about two weeks ago, a few days after we finished our Australian tour. He told us about the time and date for our flights, informing us that we were going to have a tour bus of our very own while we toured.

It was amazing.

We were just four kids (maybe not kids since we’re all in our twenties) that loved to play music, and here we are making a life out of it.


Soon enough we pulled in to the airport’s parking bay and unloaded, heading towards customs. We checked in and dropped our luggage off with no delays, and forty minutes later the waiting lounge held four very excited people.


Sam couldn’t sit still, literally. He was pacing up and down rambling on about all of the other bands that we were going to be on tour with.


“Oh my god and Memphis May Fire are going to be there, as well as Pierce The Veil and Sleeping With Sirens and For All Those Sleeping and A Day To Remember and Man Overboard..”

Soon enough I’d tuned out, sinking back into the seat with my headphones in. I sipped slowly at my hot chocolate, Chloe reading a magazine next to me.


“Flight AO737 to Oregon, America is now boarding.”


That was us. The tour was kicking off in Portland, Oregon and we were stoked. We were given a day or two to adjust to the time difference, then the tour began.
We shuffled onto the plane and settled in, Chloe taking her seat next to me while the boys sat across the aisle.


“I can’t believe we are going to America, Bo. America! It’s just.. wow.” Chloe grinned next to me, looking like a kid at Christmas. I nodded.


“It’s fucking insane. We just have to live through the 20 hour flight to get there.”

We’d managed to luck out and get the longest flight possible, with stops and refueling along the way. It didn’t matter though. We were on our way to the biggest thing to come our way, and it was unbelievable.


I pulled my headphones on and looking out the window as the plane began taking off.
This was going to be unforgettable.


Twenty long hours later, we landed in Portland. Rubbing my eyes, I saw that it was night time. Guess I was more tired than I thought. I lost the rest of my band as we exited the plane, getting separated in the long line of people. 



'To: Chloeeeee; Sam Bam; Jeremy.


'Where are you guys?'



My phone buzzed a minute later, a text from Sam coming through.



'Meet at luggage collection'



Man it felt good to be able to walk again. My legs had been cramped up for nearly a whole day and I was ready to start moving again.
I approached the luggage claim area and spotted my band.


“How are you guys after that?” I said, stretching my arms above my head and yawning.


“I don’t think my legs will ever work again.” Chloe joked. Our luggage came around and we grabbed it off the carousel, heading towards the taxi rank.


When we got there, we saw there was only a large 10 seater taxi left. I groaned, thinking of how much extra it was going to cost. Chloe tapped my shoulder and I turned around, following to where she was pointing.

Pierce The Veil were walking up towards us, their bags slung over their shoulders.


“That’s insane! Imagine seeing them here, of all places.” Chloe said.


“I know. Weird.”


Before I knew it, they were standing directly in front of us. Man did I feel short, Vic even being a few inches taller than me. For the millionth time in my life I cursed my tiny stature.


“Hey. Uh, you guys mind sharing a taxi? It’s the only one left and we need to be somewhere, kind of urgently.” Mike, their drummer said running his hand through his hair.
 Vic slapped his younger brother across the back of his head.


“You don’t even know where they’re going, dimwit.” I laughed to myself, perhaps a little too loud. Vic raised an eyebrow at me.


“You guys are funny. And we’re going to The Mantra hotel, if it helps.” I said.


“That’s where we’re going!” Mike yelled, starting to put his bags in the back of the taxi.


“Sorry, where are my manners? We haven’t introduced ourselves.I’m-” He was cut off by Chloe.


“Vic Fuentes, lead singer of Pierce The Veil. We know. And that’s Jaime, Mike and Tony.” She said, and I raised my eyebrow at Vic’s puzzled expression.


“We aren’t stalkers or anything, just fans.” She explained and he nodded in understanding.


“You guys are playing Warped this year, right?” Jeremy spoke for the first time.


“Yeah, should be wicked.” Tony said with a smile.

It was so weird, just standing here talking to them in the middle of a foreign airport, finding out we were staying in the same hotel.


“So are we!” Jeremy yelled. Jaime had given Mike a hand with all their bags, and they now joined the conversation.


“So you guys are in a band?” Jaime asked. Chloe nodded.

I took in the bassist, the reality of him being in front of me still not settling in. I wasn’t freaking out, it was just weird that here he was, one of my inspirations, in flesh and blood.

Jaime looked my way and his eyes met mine.


“We’re called Ephemeral. I’m Chloe, that’s Sam and Jeremy. I play drums and they play guitar. And this ginger-” Hearing my name snapped me back to attention.


“-Is Bo. She sings and plays bass.” I smiled. We all stood there for a moment, taking in the other band. And soon enough, things got really awkward. Pushing the sleeves of my hoodie up, I grabbed mine and Chloe’s bag, piling them on top of the ones already in the back of the taxi. Jeremy and Sam brought theirs over, and we all climbed in. The guys took up the back seats, while Chloe and I sat in the middle.

As the driver pulled away from the rank, I pulled my headphones back over my ears and gazed out of the window.