The Sky Under the Sea

[Jaime]

As soon as Ephemeral’s set was over, I ducked out to wander around the festival for a bit and check out some of the other bands playing. Man, they killed it today. I mean they killed it every day but today was extra awesome. A couple of fans asked me for some photos as I walked around, but I was pretty much left to my own thoughts for a while. As usual, they began to wander back to Bo.

Was she looking a bit pale when she came off or was that just me? Maybe I should go and check on her. Yeah, I’ll do that.


I got directions back to the tour buses from a friendly security guard and made my back through the crowds.
 About five minutes later, I was there. Just as I was about to knock on the door to Ephemeral's bus, Chloe walked out.


“Oh hey Jaime! Enjoy the set before?” She asked.


“Yeah it was great. You guys killed it.” I replied with a smile. “Hey, you haven’t seen Bo around have you?”

“No, I thought she would have been with you guys but I stuck my head into your bus before and she wasn’t there. She doesn’t look very well though, I’m a bit worried.” Chloe was looking around with a concerned look on her face.


“Well, um yeah thats why I was here. I wanted to come check on her.” I admitted, looking at my feet. I do that a lot when I’m nervous.


“That’s really sweet of you, you know that? She doesn’t have many friends.” Chloe said softly, meeting my eyes when I looked up. I don’t know where this came from, but I was a little shocked.

Sure, she’d told me she was no good at making friends but I didn’t realize that it also meant she didn’t have any at all.


“No way!” I said, shaking my head. Chloe just nodded.


“Aside from us in the band, and her brother, she doesn’t have many people that care about her. Well, there are the fans but they don’t really count.” I nodded, still not able to fathom that someone as incredible as Bo didn’t have many friends to look after her. She was so fun and confident and outgoing, it just didn’t make sense.


“Well, thanks. Tell her I stopped by if you see her.”


“I will.” As I turned and walked back to our bus, Chloe called out to me.
“Hey Jaime!”

“Yeah?” I stopped and turned.
 She hesitated for a moment before saying,


“Nothing, never mind.” 
Nodding again, I continued the walk back wondering what she was going to say. This thought continued to puzzle me as I mounted the steps into the bus.


“Hey Vic can you come here? I-”


“Shhh!” Vic clamped his hand over my mouth. “Be quiet!”


“Why?” I whispered. He just pointed to the bunks and said,
“Bo passed out on the couch so I stuck her in my bunk.”


“Shit, is she okay? I knew she was looking sick before and I came back to check on her-” Vic shushed me again.


“Jaime, she’s okay. She’s just asleep.” He walked back up the bus and motioned for me to follow him outside.


“Where are you going to sleep if Bo’s not up before we go to bed?” Vic shrugged. 


“Might just do a swap and sleep in Bo’s bunk if its fine with everyone.” I eyed him suspiciously.


“That wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain female drummer would it?” I couldn’t help myself, it was so obvious that Vic had a thing for Chloe. As soon as I said it, a blush crept up Vic's cheeks and he looked away.


“No, of course not.”


“Liar.” I grinned, slapping him on the back. “It’s fine though mate, good on you.” He smiled sheepishly.


“Sup bitches!” Tony yelled, walking up to us.


“Shhh!” Vic and I hushed him in unison. “Bo passed out and is asleep in Vic’s bunk.” He narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything.


“Someone’s going to have to wake her up soon, we all have a signing in an hour.” 
Damn. I’d completely forgotten about it.


“Shit, you’re right. We’ll wake her in half an hour yeah?” I said, dismayed at the thought of having to wake her when she wasn’t well.
 Tony and Vic nodded. “Might as well tell her band what’s going on.” I shrugged, walking over to their bus. Once again Chloe answered, waving everyone inside.


“Did you guys find Bo? I tried ringing her but she didn’t pick up.” She said, leaning against the counter. I noticed how Vic didn’t take his eyes off her.


“She passed out in our bus so Vic put her in his bunk. She’s asleep at the moment.” I said. Chloe visibly relaxed.


“Thank god she’s okay. That was really nice of you, Vic. Thanks for looking after her.”


“Anytime!” he replied cheerily.
 Half an hour passed really quickly as we all sat and talked. Vic and Chloe were in their own little world while I chatted to Jeremy and Sam about guitars.


“Better go wake Bo now, she’s probably going to want to change and put some shoes on before the signing.” Chloe said, standing up.


“I don’t mind going if you’d rather stay here.” I offered, casting a sideways glance at Vic and giving him a sly wink.


“Nah it’s fine, thanks though. I need to have a word with her anyway.” With that, Chloe left.



[Bo]

“Bo, wake up. Come on, we have a signing to get to and you smell. Bo, get the fuck up!” Someone’s voice was very loud and very annoying. I tried to ignore it and go back to sleep, but it insisted on getting louder. I reluctantly opened my eyes to see who the asshole was waking me up.


“Hey Bo, how are you feeling?” Chloe was squatting next to the bunk, looking worried. Which was weird, because my bunk was a top bunk. As my mind began to work, I saw I wasn’t in my bunk. Or even our bus, for that matter.
 I went to ask ‘Where am I?‘ but my throat was dry so it came out more like, ‘whrmi’.


“Don’t stress, you’re on Pierce the Veil’s bus, in Vic’s bunk. Here, have some water. She offered a bottle to me which I accepted gratefully.
 I swung my legs off the bed and tried to stand. It didn’t go very well.


“Let me help you.” Chloe held out her arm and helped me stand, my legs too weak to do it on their own.

“Pwoah, you need a shower and some fresh clothes. Shower’ll have to wait until after the signing though. Just remind me not to sit next to you at the table.” Chloe laughed but all I could do was grimace. How hadn’t I had the time to eat or drink at least something today?
 I checked my phone as we slowly made our way back to the bus. 2:10, which meant our signing was at 2:30.


“Thanks Chloe, you’re such a lovely person.” I said sarcastically as we reached the door.
“You love me.”
 A moment later I was greeted by the blank faces of both bands.


“Dudes.” I nodded as hello and made my way down to my bunk, trying to ignore how deadly quiet the bus had gone when I walked in.
 Rummaging through my bag I found a baseball top and some jeans. I went into the bathroom and wiped as much mud off my feet as I could before stepping out of Vic’s jeans and tossing Jaime’s shirt aside. It felt so nice to finally have some clean clothes on, not to mention the feeling when I slipped my feet into socks and into a pair of shoes. I checked my appearance in the mirror before heading out.


“I’ll wash your clothes before I give them back alright?” I said as I stepped out of the bathroom.


“That’s cool.” Vic said.


“Thanks again, I definitely owe you guys one.” As I walked back to my bunk I caught sight of my ‘I slept in a ditch/bed hair’ and decided that brushing it would be a great idea.
 Five minutes later, I looked human again.


“Everyone ready to go?” Sam asked, standing up and stretching.


“Yeah.” Was everyones reply and we all filed out of the bus, making our way towards the signing tent. Jeremy caught my eye as we exited the bus, mouthing ‘Are you okay?’ to which I just nodded. 


One more hour. I said to myself.

One more hour and then you’re done.

My stomach grumbled in reply and my legs began to wobble. I held up my hand sure enough, it was shaking like a leaf. Here we go.



[Jaime]

As we walked over to the signing tent, I could tell there was something wrong with Bo. She was walking very slow, almost dragging her feet along the ground. Whenever someone talked to her, she would act all happy and smile, her facing falling once they looked away.
 I reached out and grabbed her hand.


“Bo, are you sure you’re alright? I mean passing out isn’t a normal thing to do.” My voice was low as I didn’t want the others to overhear. She turned to me with a blank look.


“Hm? Yeah, I’m fine. Just need some sleep, and a tummy full of food and I’ll be be okay.”
Our conversation ended abruptly as we reached the table and took our seats.
 Ephemeral’s table went Bo, Jeremy, Chloe and Sam. Ours went me, Tony, Mike and Vic at the end. A security guard handed us all sharpies and we began signing. All up, it only took about twenty minutes to get through everyone, and we weren’t rushing. It felt like an eternity for me, because I kept casting furtive looks at Bo. There was definitely something wrong, and it wasn’t lack of sleep. All I wanted to do was pull her into my arms and tell her that it was all going to be okay. It was like she wasn’t just hungover..



As soon as we finished, Vic pulled me aside and let everyone walk back to the buses.


“Dude, I need to talk to you.” I was staring after Bo, but the urgency in Vic’s voice caught my attention.


“Sure, what’s up?” He looked around as if to check no one was eavesdropping.


“I need you to do some investigating for me.” I raised an eyebrow. He continued,


“It’s Chloe. I really like her, but I don’t want to make a move on her in case she has a boyfriend or isn’t interested so I need you to be my wingman and ask her about it. Please Jaime, I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t think it was important.” His big brown eyes were full of despair as he pleaded with me.


“Okay. But it might have to wait a few days until Bo gets better.” Relief flooded my best friends face.


“Thank you so much!” Vic pulled me in for a hug and we began to walk back to the bus.
 “So, Jaime. You and Bo?”


“Me and Bo what?” I played dumb, focusing on kicking a rock in front of me.


“Are you together?” Vic pressed.


“No. What makes you think that?” My voice was light, but my hands were shaking and my heart was thumping.


“Hime. You can’t fool me. I see the way you look at her, I see the way you’ve been worried about her all day. You practically leapt at the chance to give her your clothes earlier. Not to mention she was sitting on you last night.”
 My heart sank. I didn’t think I had been that obvious.


“Oh..” My voice was low.


“Don’t stress, I won’t tell.” He assured me.


“We’re not. Together, I mean. We’re good friends, but that’s it I think.” Even I could hear how down I was.
“Hime, you never know. You can’t rush love, you told me that, remember?” The rest of the walk back was in silence.

This was one of the reasons I loved Vic so much. He was always so understanding, and always knew what to say to make me feel better. We’d known each other forever and there were no secrets between us whatsoever.


“Thanks Vic. You’re a good friend.”