The Sky Under the Sea

[Bo]



“Bo, you need to eat something.” Jeremy pushed as we arrived back at our bus.


“No, what I need is to sleep.” All day my stomach had been grumbling, warning me that I need to eat but the mere thought of it made my stomach churn. I could barely even bring myself to drink water, let alone swallow solids.
 We made our way inside, everyone stopping at the main table.


“We got some leftover lasagna in the fridge if you want some?” Jeremy was desperate.
“I know you love lasagna. Come on Bo.”


“Would you can it Jeremy?” My temper had gotten the better of me, and I felt bad because it wasn’t Jeremy’s fault, but all I wanted was to sleep. 
The bus went dead quiet as I trudged down the bus to my bunk. Finally, I could be left alone. Seconds later my shoes were kicked off and I was pulling on a pair of pajama pants and Jaime’s shirt.
 I’d just settled in with my headphones blaring when Chloe stuck her head through the curtain.


“Bo? We need to talk.” she said quietly.
 Yanking my headphones out I rolled onto my side.


“What?” I said curtly, not even bothering to hide my annoyance.


“We’re all worried about you. You’ve been acting really off today, what is it?” She rested her head on my mattress, staring at me expectantly.


“Like I said before, it’s just a bad hangover and no sleep. I’ll be fine tomorrow.”


“I smell bullshit.”
 Groaning, I rolled over onto my back.


“I know you’re my best friend and you’re trying to look out for me, but I’m fine. Why is it that as soon as I’m a little tired or cranky people assume I need to be taken care of?”
 I knew I was being mean but at the point I didn’t really care. I just wanted to be left alone with my thoughts.


“You can be a real bitch sometimes, you know that? But don’t think we won’t finish this conversation tomorrow.” Chloe said, straightening up. She was the only person in the world who could say something like that to me and get away with it.


“Probably.” I muttered, rolling over and jamming my headphones back in to signal the end of our conversation.
 It was more than just a bad hangover though and I knew it. The reason I got so drunk last night was part of it, but I was nowhere near ready to tell anyone. The other part of the reason was because the nightmares had started to come back. Each night I found myself waking in a cold sweat, breathing as if I’d just run a marathon. They’d gotten worse and worse each night, plaguing me to the point where I’d try and stay awake as long as possible. I just didn’t need everyone worrying over me, there was no reason they needed to know what was going on inside my messed up head.

One more week, I told myself. There was one more week left of Warped Tour to get through.


As usual, sleep didn’t come until early in the morning. I lay there, staring at the roof of the bus just thinking, a million things running through my mind as always. By the time I did get to sleep, I tossed and turned restlessly. Soon, I was in the grip of another nightmare.



[Chloe]



As much as I wanted to sleep, I couldn’t. I lay in my bunk across from Bo’s, hearing her toss and turn. She wouldn’t be asleep either, not yet. There were two things occupying my mind at the moment. The first was Vic. Ever since meeting him a few weeks back I’d fallen for him. His cute little nose ring, his beautiful brown eyes, his smile..

I leapt at any chance to be around him and get to know him a little better. He was just so… perfect. Sighing, I wondered for the thousandth time if he, even in the slightest, liked me back. A few little things had given me cause for hope, but nothing solid yet.


The other thing keeping me awake was Bo. She’d been my best friend for as long as I could remember and would tell me anything. Lately she’d just been shutting everyone out and spending time alone. I knew from experience that it wasn’t a good sign. There was nothing I could do to help her until she decided to tell me what was going on though. I wished she would, because everyone could see how off she’d been. And she’s rarely rude, least of all to me, so whatever’s up is something big.
 My thoughts continued to assault me as I lay patiently waiting for sleep. Checking my phone, I saw that it was almost 2am. I groaned, knowing we had to be up at 6 to get on the road for the next Warped stop, which luckily wasn’t that far.


That’s when Bo started screaming at the top of her lungs.


“No, please! Stop, I beg you. Leave him alone, he didn’t do anything! Please no, you’re killing him!”


Oh shit, she’s having nightmares again.


I launched out of my bunk and pulled the curtain aside, grabbing my friend.


“Bo, it’s okay. Wake up, you’re just having a nightmare. Bo please just wake up!” My voice was rising in an effort to wake her up but it wasn’t working.

How the hell were Sam and Jeremy still asleep?


Just then I heard a door open and close, followed by footsteps running over.


Bo’ll be pissed when she realizes she woke a bunch of people up.


“Bo! Wake up!” Nothing was working, she was still screaming, curled up into a ball and sobbing. My heart sank as I realized there was nothing I could do to calm her down because she was stuck in her bunk. Usually I could give her a hug and rub her back, but not tonight. Trying to pull her out of the bunk would most likely end up with me dropping her since I’m not that strong.


“Bo! Are you okay?” I heard Jaime call from outside the bus. An idea sprung into my mind.