Booze, Boys, and Buses

“Zacky I will beat your nuts in.” I threatened, pointing my index finger in the direction of the guilty guitarist.

“What for? I didn’t do anything. Matt’s the one that has it.” He replied, pointing accusingly at my boyfriend. Boyfriend, it was still strange for me to think about it that way.

“Ok, which one of you took my damn bra?” I yelled, placing my hands roughly on my hips.

They both pointed at the opposing man, grinning sheepishly. I groaned and rubbed my temples. Being on tour with five guys sure could prove to be interesting. I had just gotten out of the shower, and I had all of my clothes sitting on the small table in the bathroom, but my bra had disappeared.

“If I don’t see my bra in the next three seconds, someone is going to be spending the rest of tour in therapy. One…” I began, looking from Matt to Zack, still trying to find the culprit.

“Yeah and then I want to go to the mall, and oh my god, I absolutely have to get a new pair of shoes.” I heard, emerging from the doorway.

I choked at the sight before me. I followed unshaven, skinny legs, all the way up to a miniskirt, then to a shirt with a chest, certainly not fit for a man, and then the face of the culprit. “Jimmy!” I shrieked, running at full speed in his direction.

I jumped and had forgotten to think a little about the whole physics aspect of this. If there’s an extremely tall person, and he gets tackled from the head, would he just stumble back? Oh no, he would fall completely backward with a woman falling down on top of him. I felt something soft on my lips and gasped, jumping back.

“Jesus fuck, I think we just kissed.” I murmured, wiping off my mouth, that way if Matt had seen, he would know that I was loyal.

“That we did, and I loved every second of it.” He said with a joking smirk. I laughed and smacked his shoulder.

“Now give me my bra back.” I said, holding my hand out, waiting for the polyester fabric to sit gently in my grip.

“If you want it, you’re going to have to take it off of me.” I studied his face, trying hard to figure out if he was joking or not. “I’m not kidding.” He said, reading my mind.

“Turn around.” I twirled my finger in the air in a circular motion, hoping that his body would follow suit. Seeing as how it was in fact not, I grumbled. My scowl turned into a smile when he did as I wished. I pushed the latched pieces of metal together and felt it satisfyingly come undone. I proceeded to remove Jimmy’s shirt, and then pull the bra off of his shoulders. I was surprised that it even fit on his broad frame.

“See? Now that wasn’t so hard.” Jimmy said, getting up and walking in the direction of the guys’ bus. I turned to my left when I heard some snickering.

Johnny, the little shithead, was behind a camera filming the whole thing. I sighed and covered my hand over the lens. “Stop filming us.” I insisted, pushing the camera down.

“And miss Jimmy in a miniskirt? I think not!” He said, grinning at his accomplishment.

“I’ll sick Matt on you.” I threatened, trudging back to my bus, bra in hand.

Johnny seemed to take deep consideration of the fact that I was being serious when I said that I would sick Matt on him. I began humming “Demons” while I put my bra on. I was starting to get used to the CD now. I guess it wasn’t too bad. I made my way over to the guys’ bus, now completely dressed. I knocked on the door.

“What’s the password?” Came the familiar voice of Zacky.

“Matt’s penis.” I guessed, jokingly.

“Nope, sorry not long enough.” He replied, laughing at his childish pun.

“That’s what you’ll be saying about yours if you don’t let me in right the fuck now!” I yelled, soon hearing the satisfying click of the bus door being opened. I grinned at my being clever and flicked Zacky in the nose. He scowled and rubbed his nose.

“That hurt bitch.” He said, nailing me in the arm.

“Don’t hit me!” I yelled, running to where Matt was standing. I grabbed him by the arm and pointed accusingly at Zack. “He hit me!” Matt laughed and shrugged. I gasped, “Asshole. See if I ever defend you in a fight. And by the sounds of things I was going to have to.

Michelle walked onto the bus in a rather enraged mood. She was speaking to someone furiously on her cell phone.

“No! I already told you that you can’t come up….we’re in Idaho Valary!” She let out a huge sigh and ran her polished fingers through her chocolate hair. She let out one more disapproving sound and clapped her phone shut.

“What’s going on?” I asked, wondering what could possibly ruin my promising day.

“Fucking Valary wants to come here, so she got plane tickets. Fucking plane tickets! And she doesn’t exactly have money falling out of her asshole anymore.” Michelle explained, slamming her cell down on the table. I flinched as she did so.

Well this was no good. My boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend wanted to come up here? To see who, Michelle? I think not. I knew exactly what she was up to. And I was not about to let it happen if it was the last thing I did. Maybe I would be lucky enough that Matt could bail me out of jail if necessary. I sighed and walked toward the back of the bus where Matt was sitting with Zack, who was playing Halo 3. Matt motioned for me to sit on his lap, and I did so. He wrapped his muscular, tattooed arms around my body, making me feel warm and safe. He kissed my cheek and just held me there. I didn’t want to be the one give Matt the bad news and ruin this special, Halo sound effected moment, but someone had to.

“Val wants to come up and hang out.” I explained, not moving to see if I could tell how he felt due to his body movement. His breathing stopped for a split second and then started again.

“Why?” He asked, sitting me on the couch beside him so he could see my face.

“You know why. But I’m not sure as though I like the reason why.” I replied, looking down at my dusty Vans.

“Well, the best we can do right now is just hope that her plane crashes.” Matt said, producing a laugh.

I smacked his chest, not that it did much damage. “That’s not funny Matt. How would you feel if something like that actually happened? I know I would feel terrible, and I want her gone just as much as the next person.”

“I know, I know. But I really wish she would just stay out of our business, and out of our lives.” He complained, turning his head to look at a yelling Zack.

“I fucking hate this fucking game!” He exclaimed, adjusting himself so he was more comfortable. Yeah he hates it alright.

“Anyhow.” I said, grabbing Matt’s chin between my thumb and pointer finger and bringing his eyes to mine. “I understand where you’re coming from, but maybe she just wants to make amends and be friends. After all, she is one of the major reason this band is even famous so…”

After making this point it took Matt a moment of pondering to figure out what he was going to say to me in retaliation. He was looking as a pessimist, and I was looking as an optimist in the situation. “I don’t know, this could go either way. But you did sort of hit her with a volleyball. She could just be out for revenge.”

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see.” I said, shrugging.

Matt, without warning, pressed a kiss upon my lips. I loved it when he would just kiss me without warning. It made my insides mush. This also made me think of something else. Jimmy’s lips were so much softer than Matt’s. I mean don’t get me wrong, I was more than happy with Matt, but Leana had a good set of lips on her man. I would give her that. Maybe I could get Matt to start using some chap stick.

“What are you thinking about?” Matt asked, looking at me intently.

I snapped out of it. “Oh goodness nothing. I was just…thinking.”

My excuse was a little whack, but like I could tell him that I had kissed Jimmy. Well, I suppose I could tell him if I wanted to. It had only been an accident. Chances were that he would find out anyhow, due to Johnny and his video camera fiesta. I felt like such an airhead right now. I took a minute to be truly appreciative of everything going on around me. My best friend and I were living our dream, I was dating probably one of the best looking men any girl could have ever set eyes on, and there was a gallon of green tea in the mini-fridge. Life didn’t get any better than this.

* * *

“But Matt what if she shows up while you’re on stage?” I whined, holding on to his bicep, refusing to let go. But with little effort at all, he pulled his arm away.

“You’ll be fine. Just try to control your temper, and I’ll be back in a few hours.” He said, leaving for the stage. “How is everyone tonight?” He yelled, receiving lots of screams from his fans.

I watched his muscles in his arms ripple as he lifted the microphone to his mouth. I was so much more than lucky to have him by my side. I smiled to myself and turned around. My face contorted when I saw a blonde haired girl walking toward me. I sighed under my breath and was ready to flee. But I couldn’t. I had to stand my ground. I couldn’t let her win this.

“Hey Val! What’s going on?” I asked, playing nice.

“Ok, cut the nice bull shit. We can be nice in front of Matt, that’s cool, but I know, and you know, that we’re going to have some problems. So how about you stay out of my way and I will stay out of yours.” She said quietly. I wasn’t sure why, it’s not like Matt could hear us.

“Fine.” I said, shaking her hand. I hoped that would be the last time I ever had to touch that wretched bitch’s hand.

Val watched Matt intently as he sang on stage. I watched his gaze meet hers and he quickly looked away. I smiled knowing that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. I made my way back to the girls’ bus and walked inside after punching in the code. My bed was practically calling my name, even though it was only eight, I was beyond exhausted. Dealing with an ex-girlfriend, a crazy bra fiend, and Matt Shadows, can be a lot for one day, especially for someone who isn’t quite accustomed to this particular life style.

Later in the night I felt some shifting next to me and I peered at the clock. It read eleven forty four. I groaned and turned over. Matt was the one lying next to me. I heard some yelling and shouting from the other bus.

“Why aren’t you with the guys?” I asked, stroking the side of his face where defined dimples soon emerged.

“Because Val is over there and she kept trying to get into my pants. I tried telling her no, but she kept…” He couldn’t finish his sentence. “I needed you.”

“You didn’t do anything with her did you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. I swear to god that if he had done anything with that whore I wouldn’t hold back.

“No, but she kissed me.” He said, playing with his lip ring.

“Did you kiss her back?” I asked, now ready to kill.

“No, that’s when I came over here. I didn’t want to hurt you.” He said, nestling his face into my neck.

“Oh she’s got it fucking coming now.” I said, pushing him away and throwing back the bed sheets.

I wasn’t even thinking about consequences. I was only thinking of two things. Val had kissed my man, and I was going to kill the bitch.

“Wait Cass!” I heard Matt yelling from behind me.

I didn’t even turn around. Could he blame me for wanting to cause serious damage to this girl? Who did she think she was? Coming all up on him like that. They volleyball was going to be a flea bite compared to this. I pounded on the door to the guys’ bus. It opened quickly thanks to Zacky with a nearly drunken Kacie attached to his arm.

“Well hey babe!” Zack exclaimed, holding out an arm to hug me.

“Not right now Zack.” I grumbled, searching the bus vigorously searching for the blonde bitch. When I spotted her, I stormed on over. I heard some people saying my name.

“Hey!” Val exclaimed to me, waving and smiling.

I grabbed her by the collar of her sweatshirt and pulled her up. I pushed her to the side of the wall and brought my face to hers.

“Hey! Fucking bitch!” I exclaimed, my fist making brutal contact with her nose.

“Ow! Fuck!” She exclaimed, hitting me in the head.

I pulled her back and threw her on the floor. I jumped on top of her and punched her brutally over and over again. I wasn’t going to hold back. Flirting with Matt was one thing, kissing him was a completely different story.

“You fucking bitch! You kissed him! He’s isn’t yours! He’s mine!” I yelled, I went to hit her one more time, but a stronger force stopped me.

“Enough! Cassandra you’ll kill her!” Matt yelled, ripping me off of Valary and throwing me off of the bus.

I hit the cold ground with a thud and groaned. Had he really just done what I think he’d done? Did he just throw me out of the bus? Without getting up, I turned myself to look at the bus. The lights were on and all the guys were scurrying around. I saw a towel covered with a red substance fly across the window. I looked at my right fist. Blood coated my knuckles so I decided to get up. I trudged to my bus and punched in the code, leaving some blood on the key pad. I would clean that tomorrow. I was headed straight for the bathroom. After opening the door, I walked inside and turned on the faucet. The sink filled with blood as I washed off my hands. She had deserved it right? So why did I feel so horribly about the whole situation? Before I had time to finish washing my hands, people were piling onto the bus like mad.

“What’s going on?” I asked, looking around at everyone. “Everyone” consisted of all the girls except Valary.

“We have to get to a hospital, no thanks to you. I don’t even know where to begin with you!” Michelle yelled coming over to me.

“Ok, so you’re telling me that if Brian’s ex-girlfriend came up and kissed him, you wouldn’t take action?” I asked, waving my hands in the air.

“No I wouldn’t! I might tell her to back off! But I wouldn’t hit her, especially knowing that that her sister is right there!” She screamed at me, also waving her arms around.

“She had it coming.”

“Well now you have it coming. You’d better watch your ass Cassandra, because I’m going to be kicking it.” She warned, storming off to her bunk and shutting the curtain.

“Kacie, you understand right?” I asked, sitting down at the kitchen table where the other girls all sat. I sighed as my best friend got up and walked to her bunk. The bus began to move. I looked at the other two girls who just put their heads down and proceeded just as Kacie and Michelle had. I grumbled and put my face into my hands. Tears began to pour from my eyes. No one was taking my side on this. Not even the one I had done it to defend. I pulled myself up and threw myself down on my own bed and cried myself to sleep.

* * *

My eyes fluttered open and I peered at the clock. It read eleven thirty one. I rolled out of bed and groaned. There was no coffee left in the coffee pot, so I decided a trip to Starbucks was in order. I opened the bus door and knew we were finally in a different state. Montana I believed.

“Hey Jim, do you know what state we’re in?” I asked to the passing drummer on my right. He just continued to walk past me like he hadn’t even heard me speak. “Hey Bri.” I said, waving in Brian’s direction. He didn’t even glance at me. So it was clear to me now that everyone was against me, but Matt couldn’t give me the cold shoulder. I walked over to him.

“Hey.” I said, leaning up against a monstrous amp. He didn’t mutter a word, or give me any recognition. “Matt you can’t ignore me to!” I yelled, gripping his shoulders and trying to make him face me, he didn’t budge and just kept writing on the paper he was writing on. “Matt please. I can’t deal with this. I’ll have to go home.”

“Good then, go home. Maybe then you can cause a lot less damage.” He muttered, scribbling something out and writing a different thing in its place.

“Matt! I cannot even believe you right now. She kissed you remember?” I asked, glaring at him.

“Yeah I know, but you almost killed her Cass.” He said, writing something else on the clipboard.

I grabbed the clipboard and ripped it out of his hands. “Matt, listen to me!” I exclaimed, throwing the clipboard on the ground. “I did not almost kill her.” I insisted, dropping my head. I began to sob. “I didn’t mean to hurt her that bad.”

I felt Matt’s warm arms wrap their way around me and pull me in tight. “I love you, and that’s all that matters. No matter what Val does or says isn’t going to change a single thing between you and me.”

I still continued to sob. My first tour experience had gone bad, and now this one was going even worse. At least last time people had liked me during the last tour. Even if none of them had been Matt.

“I’m so sorry.” I whispered, sobbing some more.

“Look at me.” He said, lifting my chin up in his cupped hands. “I love you, ok? You don’t need to hit other girls when I am kissed, because their kisses mean nothing to me. Yours is the only one that matters.”

He pressed a tender kiss on my lips, causing my knees to collapse and I fell to the ground. He help me stand and I looked deep into his eyes.

“Ok.” I whispered, returning my face to his chest.