FicWad

Chapter Three


I turned the volume on my iPod all the way up, setting it and my headphones down on my bed. Looking around my bunk on the bus, I couldn't help but feel that it looked empty. Empty and kind of sad. Jumping out of it for a moment, I grabbed my backpack and pulled out a folder of pictures. Yeah, I'm dorky enough to bring pictures along in a folder, but whatever. I am a picture nerd, deal with it. That folder of pictures, plus scissors, plus tape, plus my bus bunk was about to become a giant collage of everything that I loved in life, the reasons I am here now, and the people that supported me best.

So, happy, I sat there singing along to whatever my iPod decided to play with my entire library on shuffle. It was a little while later when someone decided it was time to pay me a visit on the bus.


"Hello? Is anyone here?"


Damon and Nathan were out goofing around somewhere, and I was pretty sure Nikki was with them, but I wasn't certain. Regardless, none of them were with me.


"Yeah, I'm back here," I called to whoever it was, sticking my head out of the bunk. I could see Jeremiah standing in the front of the bus. "Oh, hey! What's up, Jeremiah?"


Jeremiah walked through the bus, coming to my bunk. "Hey! Not too much, just hanging around and trying to keep myself occupied." He laughed. "You know, using up my down time. What are you up to?"


"Hanging some stuff up," I said as I added a picture of Grey and me to my collage.


"Cool, cool," Jeremiah said. He looked around at what I'd done so far, taking in the pictures of me and the band and recognizing their faces, and looking over the faces of my friends he had never seen before. "I brought a ton of pictures on my first tour, too, but I didn't go as extreme as this."


"As extreme as this?" I asked with a bit of a chuckle. "What's that supposed to mean?"


"A photo wall," Jeremiah said. "Um, actually, no, with the way these bunks are more like a photo cave," he said, and then added, "Who's this?" He had picked up Grey's senior photo.


I glanced down at the picture. "Grey," I said in a bouncy tone, grinning like an idiot, before picking up another photo of my friend Lucy giving two thumbs up with a random empty gumball machine that's in a lobby at our school. The gumball machine is an inside joke, and I really don't even know how to start explaining why we find it so funny. But as far as everyone at school can remember, it's always been empty. It just showed up one day, no one can remember quite when, already empty. And it hasn't moved or been filled or been put to use since.

The picture of Grey that Jeremiah was holding was one Grey didn't like much, purely because he'd been wearing a suit he already felt uncomfortable in and the hired photographer had combed his hair, something that had freaked him out. I thought it was great though; Grey says he looks creeped out, but I think it's a good photo. His mom gave me a few copies that she had ordered in secret since Grey was so adamantly against it.

"He's my boyfriend, he goes to college back in Philadelphia." Jeremiah still stood outside of my bunk, both of us in silence after I filled him in on Grey. The only noise on the bus came from my iPod.


"What are you listening to?" Jeremiah asked.


"Everything I own," I said, knowing it wasn't the answer he was looking for. I gave Jeremiah an "I know I'm being a jackass" grin, and then picked up my iPod for a closer look. "Fall Out Boy," I told him.

"Oh, yeah, them," Jeremiah nodded in comprehension. "I've heard of them - not heard them yet though - they're from Chicago too. Supposed to be taking the underground by storm." He kept shifting through my pictures, taking longer with some than with others. "You've got a load of this Grey guy."


"What do you expect? He's my boyfriend," I said with a laugh. "And I am a girl and by sexist stereotyped we are supposed to love lots of pictures of our significant others, so back off," I joked and pulled the picture he was holding out of his fingers. "I need that."

I held it up to the wall of my bunk, taping it down. Jeremiah went back to looking through my pictures; I guess he had nothing better to do and it also seemed like he was really enjoying staring at the faces of my friends.


The door to the bus opened and then slammed shut again.


"Honey, I'm home!" Oh, Nathan. He and Damon came trooping back towards the bunks a second later. They both said hello to Jeremiah, who remembered both of their names, (and mine too, come to think of it) so here was one guy on the tour with us who seemed decent so far. You know. Because no one really acknowledged us the first few nights, which you wouldn't expect, you'd think everyone would be all over everyone else getting to know them.


"Damon, when is our sound check?" I asked.


"Now," he said. "We came to get you."


"Oh and p.s.," Nathan said. He has some habit for actually saying "p.s." when he's talking, it rubs off on me sometimes, "we're totally watching Fight Club tonight because Nikki and I saw this guy who looks like Brad Pitt today and we all know how hot Brad Pitt is, especially in /Fight Club/."


"Plus the first sex scene is hot," Damon added and he and Nate exchanged some kind of guy grin/facial expression/nod that I can't even begin to decipher, except to say it was appreciative.


I rolled my eyes at them, but grinned nonetheless. Nathan and I are the biggest Chuck Palahinuk fans among the band, though we're getting Damon and Nikki caught up. Nikki is in the middle of reading Diary right now, which I think is my favorite of all his work, except for maybe /Lullaby/.


"Brad Pitt is a total sex machine in that movie, you can't deny that."


"That's what Nikki said."

"I know, right? I means just look at the way he wears those ratty old clothes at first and those awful shirts."

"And the red leather jacket!"

"Poor Edward Norton, the guy doesn't get half the love for this film Pitt does and he's just as awesome."

"Agreed!"

Jeremiah, who had been quiet for a few minutes, interrupted us. It's easy for us to get a little carried away when it come to Palahinuk. "So wait, Fight Club, doesn't Brad Pitt play some guy?"

"Some guy?" The three of us turned to stare at him, all a little dumbfounded in our own ways.

"No he plays a sort of alter-ego--" Nathan began to explain, but I cut him off.


"Yeah," I said, "but he's not really an actual person, he's like, the narrator's schizo other half."


"No, but, what's his name?" Jeremiah asked.


"Tyler Durden!" Nathan exclaimed, maybe a little too gleeful over a fictional character's schizophrenic other half than a person should be. Nathan and I are both excessively obsessed, really.


"That's what I thought! So, what, you guys just totally rip off Brad Pitt's movie for your band name?"


"Chuck Palahinuk's book," Nathan said. Okay, maybe he's the more excessive one. Maybe. I think I mentioned earlier that we read before we watch the movie.


"And yes, we did, sadly enough," Damon added, providing a point of sanity in contrast with Nathan's, well, sheer devotion. I jumped out of my bunk after gathering all that as left of my pictures and shoving them in a corner for later.


"Anyway guys, soundcheck," I said. "Let's go."


We all left the bus and met Leah, our tutor, as we got to the venue, Jeremiah going his separate way after saying goodbye.


"Hey, Leah!"


"Hello, Jesy, boys. I was just going to look for you. Your sound check starts soon." I am sosososososo obsessed with Leah's accent, I feel so rude asking her to say certain things just to hear it because I think it's cute as hell.


"That's why were here," Damon said. "Is Nikki inside?"


Leah nodded. "I'll be expecting another great show tonight, or I might find a math assignment for you guys somewhere," she added with a grin. What I really like about Leah is that she gets us - we're here to play shows, have fun, and okay, finish high school. She gets that tied for number 1 priority are play shows and have fun, so she's kind enough to make this whole finishing high school thing as non-busy work and as targeted as possible so we get the best out of it.


"Oh, just more idle threats," Nathan said, waving his hands as if to discard Leah's words, but we all laughed.


Another great things about Leah besides her having an awesome accent and being a cool person is that she appreciates music. You would have thought we'd get stuck with some demon from hell, but here we are with some awesome person instead, she's a huge stroke of luck. We walked inside, Nathan in the middle between Damon and I.


"Guys," Nathan said, dropping his arms around both of our shoulders, "tonight, let's light this fucking place on fire."