Status: Finished, check out the sequel
How Many Times Can You Race Around the Tree Before You Catch Me?
Vague
THAT NIGHT
I sat with all of the guys in the front lounge. Today had gone very well, minus a few little pieces.
"Alright, let's start with performances, anything we need to address?" I looked at everyone waiting for input.
"Yeah, I think I need to have my starter looked at. I keep getting a twang out of it." Andrew noted an issue with his main bass.
"Alright Bryce will have a look at it. It'll make note and make sure that we can use the first day off to make any necessary repairs and for now we'll make the a sharp your main for now. I'll note that we'll have to retune a few times during the show." I noted that on my day to day calendar.
"On that off day can we make sure to look at the other guitars as well? I don't want to have to do a full replacement because of a small issue we didn't notice." Bryce expressed.
"Ok so we are probably going to just do a complete gear overhaul in the new future as is, Our best bet would be to use the first day that we don't have a ton to do and you, James, and I can take a look. I don't want to leave it until an off day incase there is a real issue. Now, any other issues?"
The guys kinda all made wandering eyes until they would land on Jake, whose head was lolled back as he slept.
"Jake!" He jolted awake when I yelled.
"Wha?" Everyone's eyes were on him and his passive attitude.
"Jake, I think your actions need to be addressed. Everyone here had an excellent day, only hindered by the fact that you were so badly hungover that you couldn't perform. I don't like being this person, but you're on cleaning duty until further notice and you're banned from drinking for a week. Today was not ok and if it happens again, We will drop off this tour." Serious faces all looked at me.
"This is for all of you. I may be your friend and have your best interest at hand, but I am not afraid to act as your manager first. Putting on a bad show for any reason, one time or continuously is not ok. It makes you look unprofessional and it makes me look like I can't handle my charges. I want this to continue to be a fun tour, however I do not want to have it end with being our last tour," They all looked sad and Jake looked ashamed, "Now I'm going to cut this meeting short. Jake go to bed, cleaning duty starts in the morning. Bryce, James, and I will go pack up the gear around 9. Everyone else go do whatever, bus call is at 2. Starting at 10 I will not be available until the morning." I closed my computer and stood.
"not available?" Jake asked. I sighed.
"I'm going out. I have friends other than you guys ya know..." They all laughed.
"Wow, you guys are assholes." I stood and they laughed behind me as I exited the bus to go grab clothes for tonight.
Christian, Mikey, and Niki came outside after me and entered the trailer.
"Hey Jax!" With a groan, I Walked over to the trailer.
"What?"
"Can we take this stuff out?" Christian motioned to the 'extreme things' area.
"Yeah, but not the dirt bike. Me and Jake are the only two that can ride it and neither of us is available right now." Christian groaned.
"I just need a few minutes. Why do you want it anyways?" His excitement suddenly showed through.
"We need a little speed ride for the dirt board...." I chuckled.
"I'll go put pants on." They all cheered and started pulling stuff out of the trailer.
I walked back to the bay with my bag and took my shorts off, immediately putting a pair of black sweat pants on and sliding a thin long sleeve over my head.
"Do you always strip in the open?" My body jumped when I heard the voice from behind me.
Turning slowly, I saw Vinny and Ghost looking out their open bus window.
"Who cares?" I smiled and walked away.
"You have a nice ass!" I laughed hearing the voice call out.
The boys were gassing up the bike when I came back. Niki handed me the key for the bike and I saw that Christian already had his pads on. Mikey was rigging this weird rope device that I assumed was how I was going to tug Christian along.
"Are we ready to go here?"
"What are you doing?" Behind me, a small group was sitting. Max from Falling In Reverse, Alex, Jake, and Pablo from Chelsea Grin, and Luke from The Word Alive.
"Clearly Procuring some entertainment."
VINNY
After Jax walked away, I quickly left the bus to join the small group in our trailer.
"Who is that?" Alex asked. He was carefully sizing her up, She might have been in sweat pants and a hoodie but she was still hot.
"That's Jax, She's a TM."
They looked at her as she mounted the bike. He foot struck the gear as she started it.
"I'm gonna do a few warm up runs, Get Mark to get the video camera!" She yelled over the bike so they could hear. Once she saw their thumbs up she quickly hit the throttle with one foot on the ground so she turned quickly before jetting off towards the festival grounds.
"Well gentlemen, there's nothing hotter than a woman on a motorcycle." Alex took another sip of his beer after making his statement.
"AYE, back off Koehler. She's been claimed." Sabrina explained from her spot on Chris' lap.
"How do you know that?" Max asked.
"Someone on the bus seems to be attempting to woo her." Balz pointed towards me.
"The new guy hey?" Pablo chuckled.
"She's fucking insane. Vinny has his hands full." Ricky smirked.
"Who said I was trying to woo her?"
"Who else were you making reservations for?" Josh smirked.
"My cousins and her boyfriend are here and I want to see them?"
I lied. I lied my ass off for the next ten minutes as they asked me questions trying to see if I was telling the truth. I figured that before we told anyone anything we should see if there was something. I would let her make that decision since she was so worried about what it would implicate.
"Alright, alright, what time are you leaving for this meeting with family?"
"10 I think?" I looked up trying to remember what time we said.
Ryan looked at me skeptically, having been the only one that saw my almost kiss with her, I couldn't blame him.
"Just don't forget, bus call is at 2. I'd hate to leave you behind on the first day."
"I won't be that person."
JAX
I did a few runs around the festival grounds before heading back. Christian was strapped up and ready to go. Mikey came over and wrapped the cord around my middle. It was like a giant rope with the ends connected. He grabbed two sides and threw the rest over my head and had it rest on my waist.
"I'm going to give Christian both ends of this. That way he can control when he lets go and when he does you can ditch the rope or grab it." A thumbs up told him to give Christian the ropes.
"I'm gonna lead you out to the middle and once we're on a straight path I'll wait for a thumbs up ok!?" Christian gave me a thumbs up and got ready to move.
I slowly pulled him into the middle of the path in between all the tents and straightened out. I saw Mark with his camera pointed towards us.
"Ready?!" He gave me a thumbs up. Christian followed through with a thumbs up as well.
"Vive El Extremo!"
I chuckled at Christian's nonsensical words before hitting the throttle and shooting forward. I felt the ropes tug and knew that Christian was still attached. I was thrown a bit off balance and almost ditched into For Today's trailer.
"Sorry!" My apology disappeared into the night as I sped into the festival grounds with people 'whooping' behind us.
"Left!"
I followed Christian's instructions. He eventually had taken us through all of the ground, narrowly missing a fork lift and two semi trucks. I let him off a few times and He crashed into something each time. Balance and coordination were not his strong suits, making steering impossible for him. He laughed each fall off and got back up. I noticed we were low on gas.
"Time to head back." He walked over after his last fall.
"See this was so much fun!" I chuckled to Christian.
"Yeah it was. Maybe that day I couldn't book a show we can go find a complex with ramps and shit."
"DO IT" His excitement will never cease to amaze me.
"I'll try. You want to ride with me back?"
"Yeah, I'm kinda tired of falling off the board."
We laughed and gathered the rope and board so Christian could easily carry it on the bike with one hand. He took the helmet off so he could talk.
"So you like Vinny?" My eye roll couldn't have been more dramatic.
"You know how I feel about this topic."
"Yeah, however, you didn't push him away." My lack of reply probably confirmed Christian's suspicions.
"Ya know, in the ten years we've been friends you never once expressed interest towards a guy. You claimed that you wanted a career more than a personal life. Now you could have both and there's a guy you could try with right in front of you." Christian's words were strong but vague. He almost hinted that Vinny shouldn't be the one I am thinking about.
"Shut up." he laughed. I pulled into bus row.
"Make me."
"You're about to eat your words."
As we approached our trailer I swung my body to the left. It sent us to the ground skidding across the gravel as we passed al the open trailers. Christian dipped off the bike the second it hit the ground. I had been trapped under it and went tumbling as it finally halted in the woodsy area at the end of bus lane.
"God dammit Jax!" I laughed loudly as every bone in my body screamed at me.
"I told you!" I yelled through the bushes.
Standing was kind hard, but I forced myself up and limped out of the bushes to the bike. James, Bryce, Andrew, and Mark came running to help. Niki stayed behind to help Christian out. They immediately tried to help me walk and I swatted them away so they grabbed the bike instead.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" James asked.
"I was thinking that Christian needed to eat his words!"
I sat with all of the guys in the front lounge. Today had gone very well, minus a few little pieces.
"Alright, let's start with performances, anything we need to address?" I looked at everyone waiting for input.
"Yeah, I think I need to have my starter looked at. I keep getting a twang out of it." Andrew noted an issue with his main bass.
"Alright Bryce will have a look at it. It'll make note and make sure that we can use the first day off to make any necessary repairs and for now we'll make the a sharp your main for now. I'll note that we'll have to retune a few times during the show." I noted that on my day to day calendar.
"On that off day can we make sure to look at the other guitars as well? I don't want to have to do a full replacement because of a small issue we didn't notice." Bryce expressed.
"Ok so we are probably going to just do a complete gear overhaul in the new future as is, Our best bet would be to use the first day that we don't have a ton to do and you, James, and I can take a look. I don't want to leave it until an off day incase there is a real issue. Now, any other issues?"
The guys kinda all made wandering eyes until they would land on Jake, whose head was lolled back as he slept.
"Jake!" He jolted awake when I yelled.
"Wha?" Everyone's eyes were on him and his passive attitude.
"Jake, I think your actions need to be addressed. Everyone here had an excellent day, only hindered by the fact that you were so badly hungover that you couldn't perform. I don't like being this person, but you're on cleaning duty until further notice and you're banned from drinking for a week. Today was not ok and if it happens again, We will drop off this tour." Serious faces all looked at me.
"This is for all of you. I may be your friend and have your best interest at hand, but I am not afraid to act as your manager first. Putting on a bad show for any reason, one time or continuously is not ok. It makes you look unprofessional and it makes me look like I can't handle my charges. I want this to continue to be a fun tour, however I do not want to have it end with being our last tour," They all looked sad and Jake looked ashamed, "Now I'm going to cut this meeting short. Jake go to bed, cleaning duty starts in the morning. Bryce, James, and I will go pack up the gear around 9. Everyone else go do whatever, bus call is at 2. Starting at 10 I will not be available until the morning." I closed my computer and stood.
"not available?" Jake asked. I sighed.
"I'm going out. I have friends other than you guys ya know..." They all laughed.
"Wow, you guys are assholes." I stood and they laughed behind me as I exited the bus to go grab clothes for tonight.
Christian, Mikey, and Niki came outside after me and entered the trailer.
"Hey Jax!" With a groan, I Walked over to the trailer.
"What?"
"Can we take this stuff out?" Christian motioned to the 'extreme things' area.
"Yeah, but not the dirt bike. Me and Jake are the only two that can ride it and neither of us is available right now." Christian groaned.
"I just need a few minutes. Why do you want it anyways?" His excitement suddenly showed through.
"We need a little speed ride for the dirt board...." I chuckled.
"I'll go put pants on." They all cheered and started pulling stuff out of the trailer.
I walked back to the bay with my bag and took my shorts off, immediately putting a pair of black sweat pants on and sliding a thin long sleeve over my head.
"Do you always strip in the open?" My body jumped when I heard the voice from behind me.
Turning slowly, I saw Vinny and Ghost looking out their open bus window.
"Who cares?" I smiled and walked away.
"You have a nice ass!" I laughed hearing the voice call out.
The boys were gassing up the bike when I came back. Niki handed me the key for the bike and I saw that Christian already had his pads on. Mikey was rigging this weird rope device that I assumed was how I was going to tug Christian along.
"Are we ready to go here?"
"What are you doing?" Behind me, a small group was sitting. Max from Falling In Reverse, Alex, Jake, and Pablo from Chelsea Grin, and Luke from The Word Alive.
"Clearly Procuring some entertainment."
VINNY
After Jax walked away, I quickly left the bus to join the small group in our trailer.
"Who is that?" Alex asked. He was carefully sizing her up, She might have been in sweat pants and a hoodie but she was still hot.
"That's Jax, She's a TM."
They looked at her as she mounted the bike. He foot struck the gear as she started it.
"I'm gonna do a few warm up runs, Get Mark to get the video camera!" She yelled over the bike so they could hear. Once she saw their thumbs up she quickly hit the throttle with one foot on the ground so she turned quickly before jetting off towards the festival grounds.
"Well gentlemen, there's nothing hotter than a woman on a motorcycle." Alex took another sip of his beer after making his statement.
"AYE, back off Koehler. She's been claimed." Sabrina explained from her spot on Chris' lap.
"How do you know that?" Max asked.
"Someone on the bus seems to be attempting to woo her." Balz pointed towards me.
"The new guy hey?" Pablo chuckled.
"She's fucking insane. Vinny has his hands full." Ricky smirked.
"Who said I was trying to woo her?"
"Who else were you making reservations for?" Josh smirked.
"My cousins and her boyfriend are here and I want to see them?"
I lied. I lied my ass off for the next ten minutes as they asked me questions trying to see if I was telling the truth. I figured that before we told anyone anything we should see if there was something. I would let her make that decision since she was so worried about what it would implicate.
"Alright, alright, what time are you leaving for this meeting with family?"
"10 I think?" I looked up trying to remember what time we said.
Ryan looked at me skeptically, having been the only one that saw my almost kiss with her, I couldn't blame him.
"Just don't forget, bus call is at 2. I'd hate to leave you behind on the first day."
"I won't be that person."
JAX
I did a few runs around the festival grounds before heading back. Christian was strapped up and ready to go. Mikey came over and wrapped the cord around my middle. It was like a giant rope with the ends connected. He grabbed two sides and threw the rest over my head and had it rest on my waist.
"I'm going to give Christian both ends of this. That way he can control when he lets go and when he does you can ditch the rope or grab it." A thumbs up told him to give Christian the ropes.
"I'm gonna lead you out to the middle and once we're on a straight path I'll wait for a thumbs up ok!?" Christian gave me a thumbs up and got ready to move.
I slowly pulled him into the middle of the path in between all the tents and straightened out. I saw Mark with his camera pointed towards us.
"Ready?!" He gave me a thumbs up. Christian followed through with a thumbs up as well.
"Vive El Extremo!"
I chuckled at Christian's nonsensical words before hitting the throttle and shooting forward. I felt the ropes tug and knew that Christian was still attached. I was thrown a bit off balance and almost ditched into For Today's trailer.
"Sorry!" My apology disappeared into the night as I sped into the festival grounds with people 'whooping' behind us.
"Left!"
I followed Christian's instructions. He eventually had taken us through all of the ground, narrowly missing a fork lift and two semi trucks. I let him off a few times and He crashed into something each time. Balance and coordination were not his strong suits, making steering impossible for him. He laughed each fall off and got back up. I noticed we were low on gas.
"Time to head back." He walked over after his last fall.
"See this was so much fun!" I chuckled to Christian.
"Yeah it was. Maybe that day I couldn't book a show we can go find a complex with ramps and shit."
"DO IT" His excitement will never cease to amaze me.
"I'll try. You want to ride with me back?"
"Yeah, I'm kinda tired of falling off the board."
We laughed and gathered the rope and board so Christian could easily carry it on the bike with one hand. He took the helmet off so he could talk.
"So you like Vinny?" My eye roll couldn't have been more dramatic.
"You know how I feel about this topic."
"Yeah, however, you didn't push him away." My lack of reply probably confirmed Christian's suspicions.
"Ya know, in the ten years we've been friends you never once expressed interest towards a guy. You claimed that you wanted a career more than a personal life. Now you could have both and there's a guy you could try with right in front of you." Christian's words were strong but vague. He almost hinted that Vinny shouldn't be the one I am thinking about.
"Shut up." he laughed. I pulled into bus row.
"Make me."
"You're about to eat your words."
As we approached our trailer I swung my body to the left. It sent us to the ground skidding across the gravel as we passed al the open trailers. Christian dipped off the bike the second it hit the ground. I had been trapped under it and went tumbling as it finally halted in the woodsy area at the end of bus lane.
"God dammit Jax!" I laughed loudly as every bone in my body screamed at me.
"I told you!" I yelled through the bushes.
Standing was kind hard, but I forced myself up and limped out of the bushes to the bike. James, Bryce, Andrew, and Mark came running to help. Niki stayed behind to help Christian out. They immediately tried to help me walk and I swatted them away so they grabbed the bike instead.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" James asked.
"I was thinking that Christian needed to eat his words!"