Drumsticks, Starter Kits and Bass Guitars

Heaven stared at herself in the mirror. Hazel eyes, black hair, well, really, really dark brown hair that liked to pretend to be black. The red she, Cristi and Tarra had inked through their hair was slowly fading. This of course made her sad. She liked having the extra color.

She looked down at the stuffed duffel and the jam packed black backpack she'd carried since freshman year of high school and wondered if she had packed enough stuff. Sighing she decided that she didn't care. Wasn't like she really wore underwear any way.

She grabbed one last pair of socks, a black bandana Cristi got her for Christmas that had skulls on it and a Powerpuff Girls tote bag. She shoved the socks into her already bursting duffle and had to wrestle with it for ten minutes before it would once again close.

In the tote she had six packages of cookies, two Anita Black novels (The Killing Dance and Obsidian Butterfly) and a jar of peanut butter.

Why peanut butter? To go with the bag of gummy worms she had stolen from her little sister. She couldn't wait to smother them in the creamy confection before chewing their non-existant heads off.

All insects sing tonight, the coldest sound.
I'd send god's grace tonight, could it be found.

Tarra was calling and Heaven hurriedly snatched the phone and its charger from the wall.

"Go for Dickie," she said seriously. Tarra laughed.

"We're here," Tarra said matter of factly.

Heaven nodded, realized she couldn't see so she made a noise in the back of her throat before hanging up on her best friend.

She tacked a note to the inside of her bedroom door: Had to go on tour, impossible not to.
She pried the window open and tossed both her bags onto the roof outside her window.
Yes, she was sneaking out of her house. And yes, she was about to climb down a tree to meet the rest of her band. Was she escaping her family, who wouldn't quite understand her need to rock harder than Ozzy?

Nope. It just added fun to having to tour in a van.

Heaven was in a band. It was well pretty well known for being an unsigned band. Her and her band had just gotten done doing another tour. One they paid for out of their pocket.They just drove around with an atlas hoping to hit the right cities.

They obviously did something right, as they had sold quite alot of tickets and merch. So, jokingly Heaven had suggested Tarra, the drummer, send one of their cds to the guy who ran Warped Tour on the off chance that they could get on the tour.

What ever Tarra actually did got them on the tour. Heaven suspected promised sexual favors...moving on.

Heaven wasn't really excited about Warped Tour. It was almost as if the spot had come too easily for them. And besides that, she hated large venues. Warped Tour was pretty big. Honestly.

But we were at Heaven currently sneaking out of her house.

She had an ulterior motive to the sneaking, other than to tickle her fancy. Her younger brother Brandon had been begging to come.

Heaven wanted him to stay home and get his GED since he'd dropped out of high school. She was trying to get away with out his noticing her leaving. Of course, she wasn't surprised that when she touched down on the ground there he was holding one of her bags and two of his own. She shook her head.

"Nothing doing, Little Brother."

"Tarra already said I could."

"Tarra's not your mother," Heaven argued as she shoved her bag into the back of the van.

"Neither are you," he pointed out. Touche.

"Beside the point. Your only seventeen, you can't come." She used her strictest mother voice.

As they were driving out of city limits their mother found the note taped to Heaven's door. She would have laughed at her second born daughter if it weren't for one thing. Scrawled under Heaven's message, in Brandon's shitty hand writing was: "Brandon went too."

Heaven stared at her phone in horror. The music from Jaws was playing, letting Heaven know it was her mother calling.

"Yellow car?" she answered.

"You let your brother go!"

"Hey, I said no!"

"But he went!"

"He had hearing problems, mom."

"He doesn't fucking listen. You bring him back right fucking now. He's got a job and those classes to go to.

"I can't bring him back. The band voted. Majority ruled, besides, we're already sixty miles out of town. Less you wanna give us gas money."

"Fine, keep him. But he better at least make some money."

"He gets half the tip jar, mom," Heaven said.

"Good. Don't let him spend his money."

Heaven rolled her eyes. He would do what he damn well pleased. As she hung up Brandon scooted over into her personal area.

"What did she say, huh? What she say?" he was bouncing up and down.

"Get on your own fucking side of the van and shut the fuck up. You're grounded."

"What? You can't do that! Tarra!"

"You're grounded Little Brother," Tarra said with a laugh.

"Bitch got me yelled at," Heaven muttered, kicking her feet up into her brother's lap and falling asleep.

Three hours later, when Heaven's sidekick started to buzz indicating that the home phone was calling again she looked down with sleepy, terror filled eyes.

"Green truck?"

"You didn't say goodbye," Cheyenne, Heaven's little sister accused. Heaven looked down at the phone sheepishly.

"I wrote you a note."

"Pfft, yeah, cause a note is better than you saying bye in person."

"I'll be home in a few months," Heaven said, "In time for your birthday."

"Good, bring me something cool!"

"What qualifies as cool?"

"The cute guy from Panic at the Disco." And with a click she was gone.

Well...which fucking one was that? Screw it, she's getting Spencer.

"I don't wanna share a room with Brandon!" Heaven whined, "I wanna share with Tarra!"

She was pouting, stomping her feet, arms crossed.

"Brandon and I don't cuddle! Tarra and I do. Cuddle with me Tarra!!!" and she flung herself into the only chair in the shitty lobby of the shitty hotel they had stopped in. They had been on the road for two days and needed a break.

"Fine, I'll share with you and Brandon. Spoilt."

Heaven stuck her tongue out at her friend, and then flounced away, key in hand.

"First shower!"

"Damnit!" Tarra seethed.

When her and Brandon got to the room they could hear the distinct sound of Heaven singing in the shower.

"Next is a trip to the, the ladies room in vain, and
I bet you just can't keep up with, with these fashionistas, and
Tonight, tonight you are, you are a whispering campaign.
I bet to them your name is "Cheap", I bet to them you look like shh...
Talk to the mirror, oh, choke back tears.
And keep telling yourself that "I'm a diva!"
Oh and the smokes in that cigarette box on the table,
they just so happen to be laced with nitroglycerin."

Brandon snickered.

"I'm tempted to take video of that and post it on youtube," Tarra said laughing.

"Then do it," Brandon said.

"Can't, my stupid Blackberry doesn't take video," she said, eying her Blackberry Pearl with a snarl.

Brandon laughed, "Funny how Leto never mentioned that huh?"

"Shuddup," Tarra said laughing.

Heaven came out of the shower then and Tarra and Brandon both lunged for the bathroom.

"Next!" Tarra called, making Brandon pout.

By the time she was done all the hot water was gone and Brandon had ran off to Cristi and Keri's room to use the facilities.