The Sky Under the Sea

~ Time lapse: Two weeks ~


[Jaime]



Tonight was the mid-tour party. Someone had decided that on our only day off from touring, we should have one giant party to celebrate. And that was tonight. We’d gotten to the venue for tomorrow’s Warped so no one had to get up early and travel, and people were gearing up to party.

They decided to base the party in the parking lot, making a sort of circle with the buses to keep it all in one place. The drinks tent had been set up in between the Memphis May Fire bus and Man Overboard’s bus, red plastic cups stacked in every available place.

It was currently lunchtime, and everyone had taken a break from party preparation to eat.
 Since all the bands took turns to help serve at catering, it could get pretty interesting. Today it was Pierce The Veil’s turn to cater, and we decided to have a bit of fun with it. Tony had come up with the great idea of getting black tape and giving ourselves mustaches to look even more mexican, as a joke. I was serving the pasta, Vic was on chicken and Tony had beans. As people walked by to grab their food, I would yell in the most Mexican way I could,


“You gonna have some pasta?”


Most of the people gave us weird looks, but a few laughed with us. I could hear Tony down the line shouting,


“I got the beans, ese!”


Just then, Chloe and Bo walked up with empty plates.


“You gonna have some pasta?” I asked, holding up a scoop. Chloe nodded, while Bo said

“Gracias amigo.” Giving me a wink. I nearly dropped the pasta, her wink catching me by surprise.

Soon, they moved on to Vic, and Mike who was apparently helping him serve.


“Hey, my name is Jaime. I pay bass and I also serve chicken.” Vic’s voice floated up the line, and I saw him hold up a piece of chicken in each hand with a grin on his face. 
Going with the flow, I said the the next person,


“My name is Tony. I’m the sickest guitar player on this tour.”
 All they did was shake their head and move along. I was having fun though, it was nice to have a day off from playing. I mean I love it, but it’s nice to have a little time off.

And Bo winked at me! I don’t know why, but she did.

Soon enough, everyone was fed and we could grab our own lunch. I piled some pasta onto four plates, and pushed them down the table. Soon enough they were joined by some chicken and beans. All four of us grabbed our plates and headed to a spare table.


“Mmm, home made mexican chicken. Nice work Vic.” Tony mused, taking a bite.


“Aw shucks, it’s my mama’s secret recipe.” Vic’s serious voice caused us all to burst out laughing. 
“You guys going to the party tonight?” Vic asked through a mouthful of pasta.


“Hell yeah. Mike and I are going to get so smashed.” I said with a grin.


“As long as you two don’t oversleep and miss our set tomorrow.” Tony warned.


“Please, that would never happen.” Mike high-fived me across the table.


“Are the guys from Ephemeral going?” Vic asked, trying to seem casual.


“No idea, actually. I know that just about everyone else is going.” Mike said, not even looking up from his food.
 I twirled some pasta around my fork.


“Hoping to get a little drunk action from a certain blonde are we Vic?” Tony smirked.


“Fuck off Perry.” Vic said hotly, his cheeks going bright red.


“Just a friendly reminder, no fucking on the bus.” Mike cautioned his older brother, pointing at him with a forkful of food. 
Vic rolled his eyes.


“If anyone would ever fuck on the bus, it would be you Mike.” Mike faked hurt.


“I’m insulted! A gentleman, like me?” He yelled indignantly, picking up his plate and walking off.


“We need to pick up some grog before tonight. Anyone want to join me?” Tony said, scraping his plate clean. Damn that kid could eat fast.


“I’ll join you.” Vic said, dumping his clean plate onto Tony’s.


“We might as well go now, it’s like 2 and the party starts at 6.” Tony stood up, grabbing the stack of plates that was now 3 high.


“See you guys later.” I said as we parted ways. On my way back out of catering, I passed by Ephemeral’s table.


“You guys going to the party tonight?” I asked, leaning on their table.
 Jeremy looked over and shook his head.


“I can’t, I promised my girlfriend I’d Skype her tonight.” I looked at the other three band members expectantly.


“We have a beer pong title to defend, hell yeah.” Bo turned to Chloe and high-fived her.


“A beer pong title?” A smirk crept onto my face. “What title would this be?”


“Undefeated, I believe. We’re on a what, 23 game streak?” Chloe said, scraping the rest of her plate clean. Bo nodded with a mouthful.


“Sounds like a challenge. Tonight, 7pm?” My arms were crossed and I stood up straight.


“Bring your A-game, Preciado. You’re going to need it.” Bo said with a smirk.


Game on.



~ Time Lapse: The Party ~


[Bo]

“Jesus Bo, didn’t you pack anything other than jeans and band shirts?” Chloe was sorting through my bag, trying to find me something nice to wear to the party.


“I’ll be fine in what I’ve got on, it isn’t anything fancy Chloe. I didn’t exactly think I’d need something nicer.” I was laying on my bunk, Chloe dumping my clothes on the bunk beneath me.

“Wait, I found something.” Chloe sounded hopeful.

“Lucky it isn’t cold out.” She held up a cream coloured dress with an aztec pattern on it. There was a piece missing out of the lower back and it sat quite low.


“You know I hate dresses.” Chloe huffed with her hands on her hips.


“I don’t care. You need to dress like a female every once in a while so people remember that you are one.” She threw the dress at me and I groaned.


Reluctantly, I swung out of my bunk and headed to the bathroom to put it on. As I tugged it over my head I wondered when I actually did wear a dress last. 
I ran a brush through my hair, for once not having a bad hair day. Another five minutes later and I’d put some makeup on, looking a bit nicer than usual.
As I stepped out of the bathroom Jeremy winked at me. He held his laptop under his arm, obviously ready to get settled in for the night.


“Nice legs Bo, didn’t know you had them.” 
I poked my tongue out at him.


“Ha, ha, ha.” He climbed into his bunk and I walked into the kitchen.


“Now that’s better!”


“Alcohol’s here!” Sam yelled, knocking on the door. Chloe got up and opened it, helping him carry the bags inside.


“Holy fuck man, how much did you get?” I eyed the bags.


“Enough for a good fucking time.”


“Did you make sure to get the ping pong balls?’ I asked from the couch. He nodded. Chloe looked confused.
“Don’t you remember? Jaime challenged us to beer pong at lunch? We have a title to defend.” My lips curled into a smile at the thought.


“Let’s get this over to the drinks table. I know Matty Mullins is on serving drinks so he’ll keep and eye on our stuff for us. We can get dinner after.” Sam grabbed the bags again and headed out the door.
 I rushed back to my bunk, slipping on black vans and grabbing my phone. 
When we got outside, I saw that someone had set up a table with everything you’d need to make hamburgers. Sam, Chloe and I dropped off our drinks and went and assembled one each.


We found a seat near our bus and sat down, digging in. Suddenly, my phone rang.


“Sorry guys, I have to take this.” 
I grabbed my phone and jogged out behind our bus.
“Hello?”


“Hey sis, it’s me.” I smiled, recognizing my older brother’s voice.


“What’s up Oscar?”


“Uh, I have some bad news. You remember Aaron, don’t you?” My blood started boiling as soon as I heard the name.


“How could I forget him, Oscar?” I snapped. The memories of that night we’re all too vivid.


“Good point. Anyway, I just thought I should tell you, he’s out of jail. I don’t know how or why, but he’s back on the streets. Joey saw him the other day and told me to warn you.”


The flashbacks started coming hard and fast. Aaron holding a knife to Blake’s neck. A guy pinning my arms behind my back as Aaron kicked Blake until he stopped moving. The tears running down my face as I fell to the ground, unable to do anything but watch him die.


“Fuck. And we come home next week, too.” I ran a hand through my hair.


“Listen. I’m going to pick you up from the airport and you’re going to stay with me for a while okay? I can send Joey over to yours and Chloe’s place and pick up whatever you need, but I need to know you’re safe.” I nodded.


“Okay.” I breathed, my heart thumping.


“I have to go now, but stay safe sis. You enjoy the rest of the tour. Love you!”


“Love you too bro. Bye.” I hung up the phone and let out a shaky breath.
 '

Holy fuck, what was I going to do? 
Worry about that tomorrow. Enjoy tonight, you’ve been looking forward to it.


I shook out my arms and legs before walking back and joining the others at the table.
Someone had started up some speakers, and was now blasting music. Pierce The Veil walked out of their bus and over to the burger table. Once they had their food, Chloe waved them over to our table. She kept playing with her hair, and pulling the hem of her dress down. She looked so nervous.


“You look fine Chloe, really. He’s going to love you all dolled up.” She blushed and seconds later, there they were.


“Hey guys. Mind if we join you?” Vic said, putting his plate onto the table. We all nodded, and he slid in next to Chloe, followed by his brother.
 Jaime slid in next to me. He was dressed in a navy button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, skinny jeans and of course, his red vans. What caught my eye was the beanie that covered his usually spiked hair. He looked so attractive with it on, more so than usual.

Come on Bo, what are you doing? 
There’s nothing wrong with looking, is there?


As he sat down, his shoulder rubbed against my bare one and sparks went flying through my body. My cheeks went red and I looked away, Jaime digging in to his burger before saying,


“Are you guys ready to lose tonight?” With a grin. I took a bite of my burger and shook my head.


“You guys are going to be the losers out of this. You’ll see.” Chloe said. 
Things went quiet for a second and I heard Vic whisper to Chloe,


“You look so pretty tonight.”
 I think I nearly choked on my burger. Jaime patted me on the back gently, trying to help me breathe.


“It’s unfair to win against a dead person, so don’t die. You okay?” He asked when I managed to choke out a breath. Chloe caught my eye and blushed.


“Um. Yeah, I’m fine.” 


“We need some drinks up in here. I’ll be back.” Mike said, scanning the crowd for the drinks tent. How on Earth had he managed to eat a whole burger in the space of about two minutes?


He came back about five minutes later with a heap of red cups filled with some sort of alcohol. 


“Let’s get this party started!” He shouted. Vic and I looked at one another and rolled our eyes at the same time.


“Your brother.” I said with a small shrug. Regardless, I accepted the drink.