Hollywood Hills and Suburban Thrills

William Beckett

Warped Tour was winding down and we were already almost halfway done with the new record. With Patrick's help on the mixes, we need only record the band and it would be finished.

I spent most of my time on the bus, however, staring down my cell phone and deciding whether or not I wanted to call Dani. It had been six days since I had last talked to her and I was itching to know if she was alright.

Had her mother found out that she was at Warped Tour with us?

I didn't even want to think about that. The thought of putting Dani through any kind of pain or misery or any negative emotion at all was enough to make me drive halfway across the country and see her. And why I hadn't done that already was surprising to me. Perhaps I was still a little bit in control of myself after all.

My eyes were growing heavy and the lounge on the bus was a reddish glow due to the setting sun in the Pacific sky. I was alone on the bus, as usual, and my cell phone sat in my lap, taunting me with its silence.

I tilted my head back on the couch and let my eyes slide closed. Sleep had been hard to come by these last six days. I stayed up late at night, thinking about what Dani was doing; what she was thinking. And if sleep did come, it would only come in intervals. With sleep would come dreams, and these dreams never seemed to end in my favor. They have to do with Dani and the majority of the time they're of her leaving Chicago for whatever reason. She would be accepted into a college in the Czech Republic and have to leave America—and me—forever. Then, there were the morbid leaving scenes which had to do with car accidents or something of that sort. And then there were those most painful dreams when she would explain to me how she would never love me the way I loved her; how she was engaged and to be married to the man of her dreams who wasn't me; how we would never be together no matter how much I may want or need it. Those were the most agonizing of all.

From every single one of these dreams, I would wake in a cold sweat, panting, my heart battering like cylinder heads in an engine, and looking around frantically. And of course, as soon as I realized that it had been dream, I would lie awake in my bunk, staring up at the ceiling, too terrified to fall asleep again.

But as my eyes shut in the lounge of the bus and the sounds of people hollering outside were drowned out, I could feel a peaceful slumber coming on. But then, as if I should've seen it coming, Sisky burst through the door of the bus.

"Bill, we're going to the club across the street to have an end-of-the-tour party. Are you coming?"

I sighed and lifted my head off the couch. "No," I say tiredly, leaning off the back cushion to stretch my arms above my head. "I'm too tired. I'm just going to go to bed." That's code for I'm going to go lay awake in my bunk for hours waiting helplessly for a girl I'm in love with to call me on my cell phone.

"No, you're coming." Sisky decides, taking my wrist and hauling me off the couch, but I whipped my hand away.

"No Sisky." I say resolutely.

"Bill," Sisky whines, flopping his arms to his sides like a child. "You haven't done anything social for almost a week. Just come out for a couple hours and then come back and sleep."

I sighed again. "Sisk--,"

"Did I mention there's a surprise for you there?" he adds on what seemed like a whim. I looked at him.

"I don't like surprises." I reply.

"But you'll like this one." He shoots back. "And if you don't, you can come back to the bus and mope."

I wanted to tell him that I wasn't moping, but I was barely convinced of that. So instead, I decided to humor him just for an hour at that club—that way when this "surprise" blows up in his face, he'll let me alone to my own devices.

I walked to the back of the bus and changed into a slightly dressier black shirt and a loosely knotted tie before putting on my shoes and following Sisky out of the bus and across the street.

The club was one of the typical of LA—loud, shitty music, tons of people dancing and drinking and having a good time, and then there was me, standing there awkwardly with my hands shoved in my jeans pockets, one wrapped desperately around my phone.

Barakat was already talking some girls up at the bar and I couldn't help but crack a smile—it was so typical of him.

My eyes strayed away from him and I noticed several other bandmates running a muck about the club. Brendon was attempting to "walk it out" in the midst of the dancing crowds. Pete was up at the tables DJing. And then, a familiar head of reddish-brown hair. I tilted my head to the side, curious.

It couldn't really be her, could it? I asked myself as I started to slither through the people.

The girl was talking to Shawn Harris of The Matches and he was smiling, laughing, and I saw him nudge her chin with his fist. Remarkable how that one simple gesture could send my insides squirming in jealousy, and this girl might not even be Dani for that matter!

Then, Shawn's eyes raised and he caught sight of me, a smile spreading across his face quickly. He leaned down to press his face in the girl's hair, whispering something in her ear. And then, he placed his fedora on her head and walked away, only turning slightly to smirk at girl one last time.

And then, the girl walked forward, following Harris into the swarm of people, and she was out of sight before I could even reach her.

My stomach dropped a little with disappointment. Then, I got a grip and turned determinedly toward one of the tables. I stalked over to an empty table and sat down hard, leaning on my palm and gazing out at the crowds as the moved in rhythm with the blasting music.

Then, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and when I fished it out, a was getting a call from a blocked number. I picked up the phone.

"Hello?" I ask confusedly and I had to plug my other ear to hear the person talking on the other side.

"William?" the voice asks. It was a low voice, though there was something about it that I knew I should've recognized.

"Yes?" I was still trying to piece together why the same music was playing through the phone as was playing in the club. Was the caller in the crowd somewhere?

"Have you gotten you surprise yet?" the person asks. I had actually completely forgotten all about that, and I answered no. "Would you like to get it now?"

I sighed; I was tired of this game. "Sure, whatever." I spat out in reply. Whoever was on the other end laughed quietly.

"We're cranky tonight, aren't we, Slim?" My stomach twisted in nostalgia at the nickname that Dani had given me. "Follow my instructions."

I rolled my eyes. This was going to get annoying fast. "Okay."

"Stand up and walk into the crowd. Get as far toward the middle as you can and I'll meet you there. Then you'll have your surprise."

I was on my feet and walking lazily toward crowd, and then I was in it, weaving between dancers and sometimes their partners. I came to a stopping point—I could no longer see the tables from where I was, so I figured I was far enough. Then, my phone rang again; it was the same blocked person.

"What now?" I ask sharply.

"Wait. You'll know the moment when it comes." And they hung up. I looked at my phone angrily and as I shoved it in my pocket, I made to get out of the crowd, but then, a familiar song intro started leaking through the speakers.

I stopped when I recognized Oasis and turned to look up at Pete who was still spinning on the stage. He caught my eye, a smile on his face, and then his eyes twitched downward. I looked to where he glanced, and my I could've sworn my insides spontaneously combusted.

There, merging between the slow dancing couples, was Dani, a small secretive smile on her face and Shawn Harris' fedora on her head. I pushed past people as well, trying to get to her faster, and then she had her arms wrapped around me and vise versa.

"William!" she squeals happily in my ear above the tranquil music that was playing. I smiled into her hair, tightening my arms around her until she began to let go of me. I placed her back on the floor (I hadn't noticed I had lifted her off of it, actually) and smiled down at her.

"You're sneaky," I say to her, gesturing to the DJ stand where Pete was clapping and laughing. She rolled her eyes.

"The phone call was his idea," she says.

My heart was thumping way too fast; I could hear it in my ears over the music. "I missed you, Dani." I say in almost a choke; my windpipe had tightened. She looked up at me and gives me a sad smile but before she could reply, I stretched out my hand dramatically. "Care to dance?"

She didn't hesitate in the least as she placed her hand in mine and I pulled her toward me. I swallowed silently as I placed my hands on her hips and she wound her arms around my neck. I could feel her body heat through my shirt and it made me blush and look around inconspicuously.

She laughed a moment later and a voice in my head laughed and assumed that she figured out what I was doing, which only caused me to blush more. And next, she was looking up at me with an emotion I didn't understand. She rose to her tip toes slowly and pressed her lips to my ear.

"I missed you too, William." And then she placed a kiss on my cheek just like I had done to her so many times before.

She was making it hard not to fall even more in love with her at this point.