I woke up the next morning and the bus was no longer was moving, or at least, didn't feel like it. After crawling out of my covers and nearly falling out of my bunk, I walked into the "main" part of the bus, expecting to see the guys, but no one was there.
However, there was a brown bag on the table, which contained doughnuts when I peaked inside, so I couldn't stop from helping myself to breakfast.
The clock on the wall read that it was nearly eleven, so the guys had really let me sleep in today. After I was finished eating, I changed from my pajamas into tan pants and a striped shirt, tucking the front of it into my jeans. I slipped on the white flats that I packed and after combing through my hair, now loose waves from the curls last night, I walked out of the bus and looked around.
From what I could tell, we were at another venue. This time in New York as they had told me we would be last night. I wandered aimlessly until I found a door on the side, walking through to find mountains of sound equipment, bins full of old sets for an old show, and endless other things. I continued through until I found a door that said, "Twenty One Pilots" on the top, and I knocked.
"It's about time you've woken up," Josh rolled his eyes and laughed after opening the door and letting me in. Tyler was sitting on a couch and scrolling through his phone, just like he was when I found him on the bus yesterday.
"What have I missed?" I asked, looking back between the two of them. Josh sat next to Tyler and patted the seat for me to sit next to him, putting Josh in the middle.
"Just the sound check, nothing big." Josh responded, then looked next to him at Tyler. "What are you doing?"
"Talking to Jenna," he said right away, "her flight just landed. I'm gonna go pick her up."
"I thought she was coming tomorrow night?" Josh asked, visibly confused.
"I guess she got an earlier flight. I'll be back soon." Tyler stood up and walked out of the dressing room, closing the door behind him. As soon as the door clicked shut, Josh turned to me.
"Okay, listen, it is very obvious that you two have a lot of unfinished business. You two need to talk to each other, okay? You can't just avoid each other this whole week." Josh stared directly into my eyes when he spoke to me, making me even more anxious.
"How am I supposed to do that when he now has his girlfriend coming?" I had no desire to meet this girl. I shouldn't care, but I just didn't want to. I didn't want to see him with anyone else.
"You'll find a way." Josh tried to assure me, but it only worried me more. The idea of talking about our past terrified me. "You wanna go get something for lunch?" He asked, standing up and grabbing his phone off of the table in front of one of the mirrors.
"I just woke up and ate breakfast... oh why not." I followed behind him until we were out where the bus was again. There were a few other cars there too, which Josh explained to me that they used so that they wouldn't have to take the bus everywhere. Tyler took one to the airport, and we took another to go get lunch.
-
"So what's she like?" I asked Josh before swirling the straw around my glass of water and taking a sip.
"Who, Jenna? Oh my goodness." Josh put his fork down and looked up at me. "She is probably the sweetest thing on this entire planet, there's no way that anyone around her isn't happy, she just makes everyone smile. You're going to love her."
I looked back down at my salad and just moved it back and forth with my fork, resting my head against my palm and keeping my elbow at the edge of the table to hold me up.
"I'm sure that wasn't the answer you were looking for, I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay, thank you for being honest." I fake smiled to him, "I'm really glad that she makes him happy, and it's good that you like her. I'm sure it would suck having to spend all of your time with your best friend and his girlfriend if you didn't like her."
"Yeah it would. Maybe that's why the end of senior year was so bad." I gasped and reached across the table to smack his arm but he just laughed.
"We didn't even spend that much time together when Tyler and I dated."
"Such a shame, I know everyone needs a little more time for enjoying this work of art." He held his hands under his chin and made a snobby face.
"Goodness Joshua," I just laughed now, I couldn't help it anymore. "Are you almost ready to go?"
"Yeah, let's go, we should probably be heading back." The car ride wasn't too far, and when we pulled back into the lot where the bus was, the car that Tyler had taken to the airport was back.
"Are you going to be okay?" Josh turned to ask me, seeing me stand and just look at the car now parked next to ours, as if he could feel my stomach wrenching.
"Do I even have a choice?" I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment, but not for long until I faced Josh and said, "I can do this. Don't worry about me, okay?" He didn't respond, as if he was just thinking in his head about how much of a mess I am.
We continued to walk until we were back into the dressing room we'd been in before. Tyler was sitting on a stool in front of the mirror, covering his neck with what looked to be black paint. On the couch where the three of us had sat earlier, was who I assumed to be Jenna. Blonde, skinny, absolutely perfect teeth, she looked like a model with the cutest outfit I'd ever seen, but something I couldn't pull of with my shorter, curvier frame.
"Where did you two run off to?" Tyler asked, looking between Josh and I in the mirror.
"Just out to lunch, nowhere fancy." Josh asked before walking over to Jenna on the couch. She stood up right away and met him with a hug.
"It's so great to see you Josh," she spoke as he lightly squeezed his arms around her.
"It's great to see you too," He pulled out of their embrace and turned to face me. "Jenna, this is our friend Alena, Alena, this is Jenna." I walked closer to them from where I'd originally been standing near the doorway still. I shook her hand and smiled back to her.
"Hi, it's so great to meet you, I've heard so much about you." I said, looking up a little to meet her gaze that was a couple inches above mine.
"It's so great to meet you too-" Jenna was interrupted by Mark walking through the door.
"Oh, welcome Jenna, it's good to see you. Guys, I need to talk to you for a moment."
"That's fine, we can head out for a bit." Jenna waved him off, quickly grabbing her small bag from the couch and walking towards the doorway where Mark stood. I followed behind her, Mark moved into the room before we walked out, and he shut the door behind me.
"So, how did you meet Tyler and Josh?" She asked me as we walked to god knows where. Well, now I know that Tyler didn't tell her about his past, or me.
"We were friends in high school," was all I said, I couldn't imagine that telling her that not only did Tyler and I date, but I also was his first time, probably wasn't a good conversation starter.
"Really? That's so awesome! How did you end up here?" Her voice was so perky, but not annoyingly, it just spilled kindness. I wanted badly to not like her, but she was exactly how Josh said she was.
"Well, I had no idea that their band actually came to be a thing until a week ago I saw them on the cover of a magazine talking about the album and the tour, so I contacted Josh and he invited me to the hometown show, but after that he insisted that I stay and tour with them for the week, so, here is day two." I laughed, not really sure what at, but I did.
"That's fantastic, I'm so excited! I'm usually the only girl here, with the exception of Sydney, from Echosmith, but she's only here this year, and she's going to be with her band for most of the time. It'll be so great to have another girl to hang out with!"
We just walked around the venue for what felt like forever talking about everything. The band, what it's been like for her to be with Tyler during all of this craziness, and I hated that I loved her. She was so amazing, I can't even be mad that Tyler is in love with her. I truly hate to say it, but I think I made a friend today.
When we had walked full circle and back to the dressing rooms, Jenna and I only stepped in for a moment to tell the guys that we were going to go out for a little and explore the city, we'd be back for the opening acts.
"Are you serious?" Tyler asked, his voice low and his face in disbelief.
"Yeah! What's the point of sitting around here doing nothing? We're in New York City! Besides, Alena has never been here before, therefore, I must take her shopping." Jenna walked over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek to say goodbye, and I just waved goodbye to both Tyler and Josh.
We both agreed that there was no point in taking a car, and we might as well just walk.
"So, what was Tyler like in high school?" We had walked into a random small boutique and wandered around, pulling out random things that we liked or wanted to show each other. She turned to me and spoke as she observed a striped t-shirt dress. "He doesn't really like to talk about high school and his past, I don't know why." Probably because of me, I told myself.
"Well," I had no idea where to start. What if there was something that he actually really didn't want her to know about aside from our past? "He had a lot of confidence problems, I guess. On the surface he was really shy, but once you got close to him you just saw that he was a goofball and not just a quiet kid in the hallway."
"I can see that being him without a doubt. He is always so bizarre, but he makes me laugh, so I can't really say that I mind." I smiled, but I couldn't help but be a little jealous. It was inevitable for a part of me to miss those days that Tyler made me laugh until my stomach was aching, and the days that were the complete opposite. I missed them all.
"That was certainly him." I looked over at her, now skimming through a selection of hats on a shelf. "You have to get that." I told her, referring to a white knitted beanie, a pom-pom on the top. "Winter is coming, and that would look so cute with your short hair. You're gonna need something for keeping you warm and still looking super great."
"Thank you, but I don't know, we're going south sooner than later and it's just going to be warm, I don't know how much I'll need a winter hat, even if it is super cute."
"You guys will probably be back in the north by the time the holidays roll around and it gets chilly. Treat yourself." She stared down at it, as if she was debating in her head whether or not to get it. "You know what, I'm getting it for you." I reached in front of me and swiped it right from her hands.
"No, you don't have to do that! I can get it for myself Alena, really."
"No, don't. It's my gift to you." I smiled. What the hell was I doing?
Before going to actually check out, I also picked out some other things for myself, and sweater for Jenna that matched the hat really well. Perhaps it was a lot, but I got paid last week, I can handle it.
After paying and leaving there, we went into several other places and also went to some random pastry shop to get these really awesome cupcakes. I could not have had more fun than I was having then.
With our shopping bags racked on our arms, cupcake boxes in one had, and a frappe (for her a coffee) in the other, we walked our way back to the venue. By now, fans were lined up block after block, winding down the road and anxiously waiting to get in and see the guys perform. I couldn't help but be really excited that I was going to experience them performing again.
"There you two are, it's about time you've made it back." Josh turned and sassed us when he heard the door to the dressing room open from Jenna and I walking in. We went straight to the couch in the back to put down our bags, then went to the small table that was in the corner opposite to the boys' make-up stations to eat our cupcakes.
"Want a cupcake?" I asked aloud to the two boys, walking over to Josh and holding a red velvet cupcake up to his face. He, without saying anything beforehand, leaned forward and took a bite of it from right in my hand, resulting in a smudge of frosting being stuck on his nose and chin. I just laughed and made him take the cupcake in his own hands, then quickly pulled out my phone to take a picture of his frosting-coated face before he could wipe it off.
When I walked back over to the table to take a chocolate and peanut butter cup-cupcake for myself, Jenna looked oddly confused and gave me a weird face, then mouthed, "Do you and Josh have a thing?" to me from across the table.
I wanted to laugh, but since we weren't supposed to be drawing attention towards that question, I just shook my head and held up my left hand, pointing to the ring on my fourth finger. But I couldn't resisting laughing when her mouth dropped and her eyes went wide.
"Wait, you're engaged!?" She practically screamed.
"You guys have been together for hours now, and that hasn't come up once?" Josh turned and asked, his cupcake practically gone and his face now totally covered in frosting and sprinkles.
"It just didn't come up," I laughed, but I couldn't help but notice out the corner of my eye Tyler rolling his eyes in annoyance, continuing to paint black on his hands.
"What's he like? Have you done any wedding planning yet? You must be so excited!" Jenna squealed.
"God where do I start, he's honestly everything I could ask for." I hated saying this in front of Tyler, not that it should matter. Regardless of whatever tension was between Tyler and I this week, I still loved Derrick, and how I felt about him had still been the same, so why lie? "You'd really like him, he's the sweetest guy ever."
"Reminder, Jenna likes everyone." Josh interjected, laughing at the end.
"Whatever, you really would." I smiled to her again. "And we haven't done a ton of planning, we're sort of just in the beginning stages right now."
"So no dress yet?" Jenna asked, sounding disappointed.
"Unfortunately, no; no dress yet." I finally took a bite into my cupcake as Jenna awed and awed for at least a solid minute.
"Well congratulations! I'm so happy for you!"
"Thank you," I was trying to wipe off the cupcake from my face with the back of my hand as we spoke.
"Hey, you want to go meet fans with me?" Jenna asked, eyes wide and eager. It sounded like a lot of fun, but I wasn't all too sure about it.
"I don't know... none of them even know who I am. I don't think any of them want to meet me."
"Are you kidding? As soon as they hear that you were friends with these two when they were in high school," she had gestured to Josh and Tyler, "they will be all over you."
"I don't know Jenna, I'm sure they'd be much more interested in meeting you." She pouted, but I stood my ground, I really didn't think it would be worth it.
"Well, if you want to join me I'll be outside!" She walked over to Tyler and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I'll be back before you go on stage, I promise."
"Have fun," He told her, and she walked out of the room.
"How was your shopping trip?" Josh asked me as he walked over to his make-up station to paint the red around his eyes.
"It was so much fun. I haven't had time like that in too long." With my focus being on work and Derrick and trying to grow up now, I've let the fun aspect of my life slip away. There hasn't been a lot of times that I go out anymore, and I don't do a lot of what I used to love. Being able to hang out with a new friend, even if she was someone I initially wasn't too keen on meeting, and just being able to relax and talk was refreshing.
"I told you that you would like her." Once Josh's make-up was done, he stood up from his seat and slid his phone into his pocket, then looked back and forth between Tyler and I. "I have to go check for something before we go on stage, I'll be back in a minute or so." And with that, he turned and left the dressing room.
And then there were two. Possibly the worst two that could have been chosen to be in this room together, but there wasn't much to do about it. I stood from my seat at the corner table and started to go through all of the shopping bags, separating Jenna's gift from my stuff and folding everything. As I was putting everything into one big bag rather than eight little ones, I broke the silence. "She's really great. You two are really lucky to have each other." I wasn't sure what my facial expression was, but no matter what it was, I wasn't facing Tyler and there was no need to worry about him seeing that. Besides, I truly meant it. She was so kind and funny, and after getting to know her today I can't even begin to imagine how they wouldn't be good for each other.
"Alena, what did you tell her about the two of us?" His tone was dark, dry. He had no intention of accepting my some-what compliment and congratulations, but instead, he was more concerned about the mess he thought I was making. As if I would be the one to do that.
"Why is it so important what I tell her?" I turned, dropping the bag on the table and now facing Tyler and his mirror.
"Will you please just say what it is that you shared with-"
"Why do you care so much? Why didn't you just tell her in the first place, Tyler? Why wouldn't you just tell her about your past?"
"Alena please just-"
"You don't think it's odd that you've been with this girl for years now and you've never told her anything about high school or your past relationships? You don't think that's strange?"
"It's a lot more complicated than you think, okay?"
"Oh yeah, I'm sure it is." The sarcasm spilled from my lips.
"Seriously Alena, you don't understand." He spun around in his stool, now facing me. "Please just tell me what you said to-"
"I told her that we were friends, okay? I told her that I was friends with you and Josh when we were in high school. That's it. She doesn't know anything else. Is that okay? Is she allowed to think that we were friends?" I hated talking this way to him; if he was anything like he was the last time I saw him, this was sure to drive him over the edge and make him anxious. And I hated thinking that. But the words just kept coming up like vomit. I couldn't stop just saying what was on my mind.
He was silent for a minute. I walked over to the couch and sat down, looking across the white room and just thinking to myself about everything that I'd just said.
"Thank you." He nearly whispered after some time. My head shot up and I looked at him.
"I'd rather an explanation, but I guess a thank you will have to do."
AUTHOR'S NOTE; oh my goodness I am so bad at updating I can't believe it's taken me this long. I'm so sorry guys. I've just started writing another story on the side which may or may not (probably won't) be published on here? So that's been distracting me, along with non-stop other things going on now that school is in full swing and fall is always my busiest time of the year. But I promise I'm going to get around my schedule and keep writing for you guys!
Thank you for all of the support; the first book, Lovely, has reached 4.5K reads and I'm so astounded (even if to some people that's a low number, I'm so excited about it). And I love reading all of your comments, so thank you for being a part of this! Please vote/comment/&share and continue to stay engaged. Lots of love, -Anita |-/