The American Spirit

June 17th, 2015

"Come on girls! The bus will be here any minute!" Nicholas called, trying to round all the girls up. "Chelsea, did you forget to pack? Come on! You've known about this for months!"

Chelsea grinned down at him from the balcony over the living room. "No, dad. I didn't forget to pack. We're just trying to get some last minute stuff done."

"No, seriously, Nick. We've got everything packed. Ryanne is just having to get a few last minute things done around the house." Faye reassured, coming up behind Chelsea to smack her playfully. "You know how obsessive she is."

"Oh whatever Faye. I'm just worried that the house will get broken into while we're gone. Did we ever get someone to watch the house for us?" Ryanne worried, making her way down the stairs. "I mean, it could happen! What if someone steals all my Batman stuff?"

Nicholas rolled his eyes, grabbing her hand to pull her out of the house. "Ry, no one is going to steal any of your Batman stuff. I'm actually pretty sure you're taking all of it with you. And yes, my parents are going to take shifts with yours and the other girls' parents to take care of the house. Don't worry about it, you psycho."

She pouted, but was unable to keep a smile from breaking across her face at his teasing. It wasn't true, of course, she had way too much Batman memorabilia to even begin to take it on tour with her. But, she did have enough Batman stuff between her and Faye to last her the summer. They were a bit obsessed, slightly. Almost enough to rival their new friend Andy's obsession.

"Okay, okay. I'm coming." She conceded, following the rest of the girls and Nicholas out of the house. "I'm so glad we decided to wear pajamas though. Because I wouldn't be able to make this trip in jeans and such."

**

Hey, are you heading to the first date yet?"

Ryanne stirred awake at the feeling of her phone vibrating, signifying a text. She grinned softly seeing Braden's name heading the screen. Ever since the kick off party, the two had gotten pretty close as friends. There hadn't been a day since that the two hadn't talked, whether by Skype, text, or phone call. He had become kind of an important person in her life.

Yeah. Already on the bus and everything.

She went to her SnapChat app, taking a quick picture of her in the bunk with her Batman plush. She laughed out loud as he responded just as fast, a picture of him grinning widely playing monopoly with Bryan Stars and Johnny Guilbert. Shaking her head, she responded via text, telling him to tell Bryan and Johnny that she said hello.

"Ryanne, who are you talking to that has you laughing so hard?" Ashleigh asked, coming to the bunk space. "Is it that Braden kid again?"

Ryanne smiled softly, giving herself away. Ashleigh giggled, climbing into the bunk with her. She sat across from her, legs crossed and hands folded neatly in front of her. The dark haired girl stared at the purple haired girl before her, wondering why in the world she was sitting there in front of her like that. Then, it dawned on her that she wanted to gossip. That was all the girls' signature pose for whenever they wanted the dirt on something.

A groan slipped past Ryanne's lips. "What, Ash? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Ashleigh giggled again. "Spill. I wanna know everything going on between the two of you."

Ryanne's phone buzzed between them, signifying another text coming through. Ashleigh simply grinned like the cat who ate the canary. Rolling her hazel eyes, Ryanne opened the text, maneuvering to where Ashleigh couldn't read over her shoulder.

Did you hear about the drama that's already starting. Seriously. Haven't even gotten to the first venue yet.

"Oh, I'm about to have something to spill in a few. Braden has just informed me of some Warped drama." Ryanne chuckled. "I can't believe there is already fucking drama."

Please. Don't spare any of the deets. I am so down to hear this.

"What are we talking about in here?" Faye asked, stopping by the bunk clutching her Totoro plushie. "Getting all the hot goss without me 'Leigh?"

Ashleigh grinned, scooting over to let the red head into the bunk. Ryanne groaned. The two girls across from her beamed. They both knew, as much as Ryanne complained, she didn't actually mind the girls 'invading' her privacy. She tells them everything anyways, so they might as well try and annoy her.

Andy and Juliet broke up.

Oh, shit. She had talked to Andy the night of the kick off party, actually hitting it off with the twenty four year old. They had talked about nothing but Batman for the majority, both being completely obsessed, but at one point they had gotten on the subject of relationships. He had been a little drunk, okay a lot drunk, and had admitted his aversion to getting married and children. He openly revealed that he and Juliet had been going through some issues, her wanting those two things being one of them. He wanted to focus on his music and didn't feel as though he could with a child.

So, Ryanne knew all about the issues they had been dealing with. She just didn't realize that it would get to this point. He hadn't said anything about breaking it off with her, because she could tell that he was still pretty in love with the woman. But, she understood Juliet's thought process on the whole thing. Juliet was about to be thirty. Her biological clock was ticking.

"Ryanne? What's up? Why is Andy Biersack calling you?" Ashleigh questioned, bring Ryanne's attention to her buzzing phone.

"Ya'll I really need to take this. I'll tell you later?"

The girls nodded, shuffling to get out of the cramped bunk. Ryanne took a deep breath before she answered the phone. Although, she had no idea what she was about to be faced with, she was going to be as supportive as she possibly could with the boy. Swiping the green button, she pressed the phone to her ear.

"Hi, Andy." She greeted, keeping her voice steady.

"She broke up with me."