The American Spirit

March 5th, 2015

Ryanne America Mathews stared down at the piece of paper in her hands, not even registering what the words were saying to her. Her sister, Chelsea Morning, poked her in an attempt to wake her from her trance. They had just been discussing with their two friends the possibility of going on tour this summer, hoping they could get their tour manager/manager, Nicholas, to go along with them.

Dear Miss Mathews,

After seeing your audition tape and seeing all of the people to sign the petition to have you on this year's Warped Tour, we have decided to allow you to join all the other bands. We will be providing you a tour bus, to make sure you are comfortable on the journey. We all know how uncomfortable riding in a van all summer can be.

The kick off party will be April 7th in Los Angeles. We will provide you with a way there and a hotel for the time you are there. Then, you'll return home until June 17th for the first date of the tour.

Make sure you pack accordingly and we hope to see you there!

Kevin Lyman

"Holy shit."

Faye's blue/gray eyes burned a hole into Ryanne's head, desperately trying to see inside her best friend's brain. "What the fuck is going on inside that big head of yours?"

Ryanne handed her sister the piece of paper, her mouth still gaping wide open. She watched as Chelsea read the news, her own green eyes widening as she let out an ear piercing squeal. The three other girls in the room flinched, automatically reaching their hands up to their ears. It was actually a normal occurrence for her to squeal loudly when she got excited or angry about anything.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Chelsea shouted, clutching the paper tightly in her hands and jumping around. "Kevin fucking Lyman is putting us on the Warped Tour line up!!"

Next thing Ryanne knew was that all of the girls surrounding her were screaming so loud, you would have thought that someone was being murdered. Eventually, she got her brain function back and she was joining her three best friends in jumping around like total maniacs. This was the most exciting news the girls had ever gotten since they had become a band. Ever since starting in their junior year of high school, they had been playing small opening shows in their hometown of Memphis. But, being an all girl band they didn't really get all of the recognition they felt they deserved. So to be going on Warped Tour was the mark of something big.

"Oh, shit. How are we going to tell Nick?"

April 7th, 2015

"Oh my gods." Chelsea breathed, tugging at her bright pink dress. Of the four them, she was definitely the most girly, most feminine person in the band. "We're actually here. Holy shit."

Ashleigh's big blue eyes, that always reminded you of a child, were wide in excitement and wonder. She was practically vibrating as she looked around, bouncing on her toes as she pointed out some of her favorite bands. It was kind of entertaining that she was looking on like a child, near tears at the fact that she was surrounded by some of her biggest heroes.

"Ryanne, look! There's Juliet Simms!" Chelsea hissed, grabbing her sister's arm. "She's with Andy! Holy shit!"

The dark haired girl chuckled, "Is 'holy shit' your new favorite term? You've been saying it a lot since we found out we were coming on tour."

The blonde glared at her sister, hazel eyes rolling at her sarcasm. But, she couldn't keep the glare on her face for too long, a smile threatening to break free. It was true. She was in total disbelief for the entire month of March up until today. Playing with her feather necklace that Ryanne had given her for her birthday, she bit her lip sharply. Most of these people on this tour were people she'd looked up to for years. Her and Ryanne both.

"Go talk to some of them, Morning." Ryanne whispered, elbowing her sister softly. "Look, there's the boys of Set It Off. We've met them before, remember. Go see if they remember you."

Soon enough, Ryanne was standing by herself as the others tried to get to know the other bands. She smiled as her sister chatted it up with the boys of Set It Off, who obviously remembered who she was. It was nice to see her smiling and actually enjoying herself. Ever since their brother died, she'd been having such a difficult time adjusting and talking to people outside of their little group.

"Hey."

She turned, big blue eyes staring back into her own hazel ones. "Hi. Um, can I help you?"

He grinned, offering his hand. "I'm Braden from SayWeCanFly. You're from....?"

"Oh! Uh, I'm Ryanne from The American Spirit." She replied, accepting his handshake. "We're the all girl band."

"Oh, that's so cool. You're the girls from Memphis, right?"

She cringed. Memphis had a terrible reputation for all it's crime rates and gangs. She hated being known as the 'girls from Memphis.' But, it couldn't be helped. That's their background.

"Yeah, that's us."