FicWad

A bump in the road jolted me from my slumber, causing panic to set in. Once I orientated myself, I peeked out the small window that decorated my bunk. The highway was nothing by a blur of trees and white lines. Since it was quite a trek from Missouri to Texas, this particular day would be spent traveling. Locked in a bus with a bunch of boys. Wonderful. I burrowed deeper under my covers, hoping sleep would come back to me.

"Lola?" A frown spread across my face.

"No." I grumbled simply.

"It's on our bus." I poked my head out from under the blankets to see what appeared to be Bridget. Her form was fuzzy and cloudy through my sleep-deprived eyes.

"Wha?" I asked her hazy figure, hoping the issue would be easily solved and more sleep could be had.

"Adrienne. The hoebageler is sitting in our lounge. Sipping coffee from our mugs. It's tainting our furniture and dishware." She huffed, her rounded blue eyes reflected the anger in her tone.

"What would you like me to do about that?" She shrugged.

"Kick her herpes infected ass out of here. I can't spend the next five hours in close quarters with her. It's in my contract." I sighed and rolled over, facing away from the frantic girl.

"You don't have a contract." She tugged my blankets away, exposing me to the cold, air-conditioned environment.

"If I did have a contract, that would be in the very first clause. Now go do something!" She was on the verge of whining...pathetically.

"What do you want me to do? Toss her out of a moving tour bus?" The female's face lit up as she nodded vigorously. "That's not very humane, Bridget."

"Humanity is saved for humans. But if you insist, we could always leave her at a truck stop. She can blow her way back to wherever the hell she's from." I quickly realized there was nothing I could say that would save my plans of sleeping.

"Why don't you tell Jooooooeeee?" I cooed my brother's name at the brunette. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"What do you know?" I grinned.

"More than you think."

"Who else knows?" Her gaze shifted as if to check if anyone might walk into our conversation.

"Patty Cakes."

"And that's it?" I nodded. "Well then, you two must die." I laughed and placed my pillow over my face. It was quickly snatched away.

"It's not a big deal, Bridge." She shook her head.

"Actually, it is. See, I don't date guys on Warped tour. Or on any tour. Ever."

"But Joe isn't a boy. He's my brother. So you're safe." She sighed and smacked me with my very own pillow.

"We'll talk about that later. Right now, the tour whore inhabits the lounge. I want answers." I turned onto my stomach and placed my face against the bed.

"She's Pete's flavor of the week. He'll be over her soon enough." She lightly punched my arm.

"I can't wait a week. God knows what kind of super STD they're concocting." Her face wrinkled at the thought.

"Can I have my pillow and blanket back?"

"Can I have my lounge back?" She countered.

"You're being unreasonable." I groaned as I rolled out of my bunk and placed my feet on the cold linoleum floor.

In the lounge, as she had promised, was Adrienne. She was sitting on the couch with a mug of steaming liquid in her pale hand. Next to her was Pete. He seemed more interested in the television than the gorgeous woman beside him. That is, until he noticed my presence in the threshold. Immediately, his arm flew around her shoulders. Inconspicuousness was never his forte.

"Morning. You guys want some breakfast?" I asked, my tone doused with sugar. Pete arched an eyebrow at me.

"We were just gonna stop at a McDonald's or something." He replied coldly.

"Oh nonsense. I can whip up something. French toast, pancakes, eggs, whatever you guys want." The male seemed bewildered at the offer, but attempted to hide it behind a cool façade.

"No, really. It's f-"

"Actually, if you don't mind, I could go for some eggs." Adrienne interrupted. I nodded and smiled at the happy couple.

"Scrambled?"

"Yes, please." And with that, I turned and headed for the cramped kitchen.

"What the hell was that?" Bridget asked as she followed me closely.

"Since I'm awake, I might as well make breakfast."

"Unless you're sprinkling Arsenic in her eggs, this is not productive." I placed my hands are the girl's shoulders and guided her onto a built in couch.

"I've known Pete for a little over six years. I know what he's doing." Bridget pouted slightly and cradled her chin in her hand.

"What's he doing?" She questioned as I began to unload all the necessary breakfast ingredients onto the counters.

"He's trying to get under my skin. And in his tiny little mind, he thinks Adrienne is the gateway. Once he realizes that I don't care, she'll be out of here. OK?" A small grin played on her lips.

"OK. Let me help you with those eggs." From the back of her throat, I could hear the gravelly sound of a loogie in the making.

"Ew, gross. At least do it when I'm not looking." It wasn't long before I had the skillets going. French toast for Bridget, Pete, and me and eggs with a little something special for Adrienne.

"Andy won't eat any of this." Bridget commented, her mouth full of syrup drenched bread.

"Andy doesn't eat anything with a shadow." Joe muttered as he joined Bridget at the table. The grin I was fighting inhabited my lips. I knew their dirty little secret. Without a word to the wise, I placed a plate of eggs in front of my brother. He thanked me quietly before shoveling food into his mouth. A very exhausted Patrick soon joined the party, his light hair sticking up in random directions. He grunted slightly at the breakfast before him. It may have been a thank you, but I couldn't tell. With steady hands, I brought two plates into the lounge; one with eggs, the other with French toast. Adrienne smiled slightly before expressing her gratitude. Pete just stared at his food, and then his dark eyes flicked up to mine. They twinkled faintly, but he remained silent as I left the room.

Hours went by before we finally stopped at a gas station to fuel up. Hal, the resident burly bus driver, announced the stoppage and began to pump the gas, allowing us time to stretch our legs.

It was the typical truck stop, complete with intimidating, flannel-coated men filling up their rigs. Patrick followed closely behind me as we walked into the connecting convenience store.

"What's with you?" I asked as I headed toward the refrigerator for a soda.

"Those truckers were staring at me." He whispered nervously as he too grabbed a beverage.

"Maybe they think you're cute, sweet cheeks." I pinched his face as I mocked his encounter with the bearded lady.

"I had almost forgotten about that. Thanks for reminding me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to throw myself into traffic." I chuckled and grabbed the water he had selected as his drink of choice.

"Don't get all upset. Who can blame her for wanting to take you home and spawn hairy little babies with you?" He frowned as I paid for our beverages before we headed back to the bus.

"So, do you know why that chick is on our bus?" He asked, still posing as my shadow. I shrugged at his question.

"I have a theory. But I don't know exactly why she's here."

"She scares me." He whispered in my ear. I laughed.

"Why?" He tilted his head and stared down at the ground. "Did she touch you inappropriately?" His still present grimace deepened.

"No. She's just..." He trailed off and adjusted the brim of his hat.

"Slutty? Trashy? A cesspool of bacteria and germs?"

"Forward. She's very forward." I wrinkled my nose. I personally preferred cesspool over 'forward', but I kept quiet as we stepped onto the tour bus.

"Did she come on to you or something?" I asked as I opened up my Dr. Pepper bottle, emitting the sharp sound of carbon dioxide escaping its plastic confines. We sat on the couch in the front part of the bus. Perhaps it was a good choice to avoid the lounge.

"Well, kind of. But that's not what I'm worried about. From what Bridget tells me, she sleeps with lots of band members and stuff." I shrugged.

"So I've heard." Patrick watched as I took a swig of my soda.

"Pete tends to fall hard for pretty girls, ya know? And I think he's pursuing this girl because he can't have who he wants and he thinks Adrienne might replace who he wants." I swallowed my soda hard, letting the carbonation burn my throat and make my eyes water slightly.

"Pete doesn't know what he wants have the time." The male nodded.

"I just don't want to see him get hurt over some stupid groupie. That's all." I tilted my head and smiled at the singer. It was almost sweet to witness his concern for his friend. I placed my head on Patrick's shoulder and sighed.

"Joe wants me to get back together with him." His arm snaked around my shoulder and rested there.

"Is that what you want?" I shook my head.

"No. I just want things to be normal again. I want to be able to be friends with him. Every time I think we're getting to that point, he tries to make it more. Then he gets angry when I tell him I don't want more. And we're back at square one again." He patted my shoulder lightly.

"Give it some more time. You'll get there. And don't let Joe or anyone force you into anything. I think it would be worse if you started dating him again when your heart just isn't in it. It might suck now, but I think Pete will appreciate your honesty in the long run." I nodded, feeling slightly better about the whole situation.