Fluorescents

4

"I ran my mouth off a bit too much oh what did I say. Well you just laughed it off it was all OK"

I step away from the the music player and close my cd disc. When I finished checking on the crew and everything they had done Jack led me to my tour bus. He told me to become familiar with everything but right when I entered a music player had caught my attention. The driver explained to me that it was for me to enjoy and that it would play through speakers spread out on the bus. I was shocked and instantly rejoiced to find something that would make this job even more enjoyable. Last time I had toured I believed that I would love the long drives because of my love for road trips but after driving for hours straight everyday I quickly became irritated.

" Hello." A voice says behind me and I quickly turn around. In the front of the bus there's a tan girl with black hair that reaches her shoulders and dark brown eyes. She steps closer to me before reaching her hand out to shake mine. " Hi, I'm shay." She says with a sweet smile. I can't help but admire the dark nude lipstick on her lips. You can tell she's adorning makeup but not enough to make her look synthetic. Her imperfections are still visible yet she wears mascara to lengthen her lashes and lipstick for some color.

" I'm Jocelyn." I introduce myself before shaking her hand and giving her a sweet smile. " I'm assuming you're my bunk mate." I say lightly before she nods her head and smiles back.

" looks like it." She states, turning to gaze around at the bus in her spot. " So who you dating?" She asks and I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. " You know, who brought you along?" She's asks politely with a confused tone to her voice. She must think I'm dating one of the guys. Why does everyone not seem to think I can handle this job. Like I told the rude man, I'm exceptionally qualified.

" oh, I'm not dating any-" her face is confused at first but she soon realizes where she went wrong.

" Oh God, I'm so sorry I just assumed-" she rambles on with a guilty expression. I laugh soon after and shrug her comment off. She obviously didn't mean to insult me and clearly feels guilty enough. She laughs along with me soon after but a worried expression still stays on her face.

" I'm the stage manager." I inform her and she mouths a shocked yet impressed 'oh' before nodding her head. " If you don't mind me asking, what do you do?" I ask as politely as possible.

" Nothing." She jokes and we both laugh even though I don't understand. " I'm dating the lead singer in the opening band." She says and I nod my head. I wasn't aware that they had an opening act. I should have really done a little bit of research. " I didn't really want to ride in a bus for hours everyday with a bunch of crazy boys so I requested being here." She says and I nod my head. I didn't know that was possible. Well, she is dating one of the band mates.
An awkward silence covers us as she gazes around the bus, examining everything. "Did you already choose a bunk?" She asks and I shake my head. A devilish grin appears on her face before she speaks again. "Well, I call this one." she says pointing to the top bunk, next to the one I was hoping to get. Hopefully she doesn't snore.

" So, do you know the other band personally?" I ask, curiosity nagging at me. If I'm going to learn anything from the new band it might as well be from someone that knows them. I am still holding myself back from searching them on the internet or associating anymore with them. Three of them seemed decent enough but the extremely rude one was enough to keep me away from associating myself with them on a personal level.

" Yeah." She says while getting off the ladder that leads to her bunk. " They're good guys." She says, now standing by the CD player.

" You don't think they're rude?" I ask and she looks away from the player before laughing in her spot.

" So I'm guessing you've met Alex." She says while making her way to the small lounge area with a couch attached to the bus. Alex. I heard Jamie call him that earlier but I didn't pay much attention to it. I nod my head before biting my lip and sitting down as well. She laughs at my misfortune before speaking again. "He's an ok guy but I wouldn't get too involved with him if I were you." I nod my head and wait for her to say anything else, but she doesn't. He seemed rude and pretentious but the tone in her voice and the warning seemed as if there was more than him just being rude. I want her to say more but I don't ask. I barely know her and I don't want to go and ruin a possible friendship by being nosey. If we're going to be sleeping feet away from one another each night I much rather not have to sleep with one eye open.

"Got so much to lose, got so much to prove,
God, don't let me lose my mind."

The lyrics echo from the speakers and I watch as Shay's eyes brightens and her mouth hangs open in amazement. I mentally pat myself on the back for putting in my personal mixtape of some of my most enjoyable music to listen to.

"I love this song." She gapes before lifting herself up from the couch and dancing around like a maniac. She's so comfortable around me and we have the same music taste. This sounds like the start of an amazing friendship. "Trouble on my left, trouble on my right,
I've been facing trouble almost all my life." I watch as she dances and sings, moving around on the bus as if it were already her home. Surprisingly enough her voice isn't horrible and she shows some potential talent. I smile up at her as she looks down at me. She waves for me to get up and dance and sing with her but I wave her off. The singing and dancing side of me is something that minimal people get to see. But before I know it I am being yanked off the couch by my arm. We dance around for a while and soon enough the chorus returns

"Trouble on my left,trouble on my right,
I've been facing trouble almost all my life." We both sing along. My voice is almost unnoticeable and she rolls her eyes playfully at my little effort but eventually shrugs it off and doesn't push me any further.

When the song is finally over were exhausted and laying down on the couch. A 4 minute dance party was very much what I needed to relive my stress.

" Cage The Elephant is great." She says and I nod along. They really are. Not just their music but their personalities. They're really great guys. And I miss them tremendously. We haven't even left LA and I'm already homesick.

" I toured with them last time." I say and she looks at me with a shocked expression. I'm a stage manager, what does she expect? I'm pretty sure I'm going to have toured with hundreds of bands by the time I retire.

" That's awesome." She says before letting out a  chuckle. " Are they as cool as their music?" She asks and I shrug my shoulders.

"Eh, they're kinda lame but it's whatever." We both laugh and I quickly find myself wishing they were here to hear me teasing them. It would make it more fun. We sit in a comfortable silence between the both of us as another song not nearly as loud plays in the background. Soon enough the noise from the speakers is accompanied by a knocking sound coming from the bus door.

A/N:
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