It was 4:45 a.m. on a Sunday morning. The sun wasn't up yet and a comfortable silence had settled over me. I pulled my sweater tighter, crossing my arms over my chest as I huddled further into myself, foggy breath visible in the cold air. I looked around at the meetup spot we were emailed the week parking lot was vast and dark, dusky blue sky looming overhead, with five long, black tour busses parked in a row, all with a white sheet of printer paper taped to the windows, all with their respective band names on them. A Day to Remember, Nothing More, and Adakain. It felt like I was alone, but if I looked closely there were people who had arrived before me. Tour bus drivers, roadies loading amps into u-hauls attached to their cars, a few band managers whose band members probably weren't far behind. I shivered and realized I probably should have put on real pants, but was stuck with the baggy flannel pajama bottoms I had decided not to change out of earlier that morning. All my other clothes were shoved into two travel bags sitting by my feet on the dewy pavement, and it wasn't worth the hassle to dig through them for any proper attire.
Finally, as more people began to arrive, I grabbed my luggage and made my way over towards the buses. One of the last ones was a roadie bus, for those of us who were going on this tour to help with merch and stage sound, etc. There were only two buses for roadies, but some others would follow in their own cars. Climbing the tall steps into the second to last bus, I quickly knocked on the plastic door, but didn't wait for a response as I made my way inside. I was the first one there.
The kitchen was the first thing you saw as you walked in, tiny and compact. Hardly fitting for the six people that would be sharing it, but it was the kind of thing you get used to over time. A "living room" of sorts was beside the kitchen, really only consisting of a long, gray couch along the wall of the bus, with a medium sized television mounted to the wall at the end. Closer to the back was a booth that could seat four, with a wide table in between the plastic seats. There were compartments lining the ceiling above the furniture for storage. If you looked in them you would find things like blankets, tupperware, medicine, the list went on.
I waddled to the back of the bus with my bags, which I was dragging by now. My upper body strength was almost pitiable. That would probably change by the end of this tour, with all the things I expected to be lifting for four months straight. It would mostly be unloading and loading boxes into trucks, boxes filled with band tees and albums. For now I started lifting my bags into the bottom bunk, farthest away from the door. I shoved them towards the back and decided I would unpack later. There would be plenty of down time on the road on the way to the first show. I wasn't sure if I was as mentally prepared for this tour as I had hoped. I had been on a couple of tours before, but for the most part they were small, where the bands weren't that well known and everything was pretty easy going. On this tour, though, there was a bigger band, and I've heard stories about touring with bigger bands… More fans, more parties, less humble members. Crossing my fingers, I hoped I could get along with everyone and everything would go smoothly. Just as that thought crossed my mind, the tour bus door swung open.
"Hello?" a deep male voice rang out, and a guy with dusty blonde hair and thick stubble poked his head in. He swung a large duffel bag through the doorway and searched around until his eyes landed on me. "Casey!" His face lit up and he barreled towards me.
"Dan!" I yelled as he grabbed me up and spun me around in a bear hug. Laughing, I returned the gesture, and tried not to let my feet hit anything as they dangled in the air, with Dan flinging me around in these closed quarters. Suddenly I felt a rush of excitement. Excitement to be on this tour, to see my friends, and even for meeting new ones, despite how introverted I was. "It's been so long," I whined as he set me down, and he turned and headed back to retrieve his bag. Dan and I went on our previous tour together half a year ago and became quick friends. He was cheerful and protective of me, which was nice when you're spending months on the road with a lot of strangers.
"I saw you a week ago, Case," he chuckled and threw his bags in the bunk above mine, thinking back to last week when we ate burgers and watched horror movies together, which was not a rare occurrence. He had rough, tan skin, decorated with colorful tattoos over his arms and chest. His ears were gauged and he wore a solid gray tee with some black jeans, not unlike his usual attire. "Do you want to go check in before it gets too late?" he asked.
"Yeah, I guess we should go and see if there are any familiar faces, too," I said as I grabbed some army green, tight fitting pants from my bag, along with a big baggy Star Wars hoodie to combat the cold weather. Ducking into the bathroom, I threw on my clothes for the day and brushed through my blonde hair, throwing it up into a messy bun in the end. "Did you talk to Shae? Cause knowing her there's a chance she isn't even awake yet and the tour is gonna leave without her and she'll have to live the rest of her life as a spinster with ten cats and no job," I joked as I bounced out of the bathroom and over to Dan, grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards the front of the bus. Our trio also consisted of Shae, who we met on our last tour as well. The three of us have been inseparable since.
"She's here, I think she's already checking in," my eyes widened as I heard this and I released his arm, immediately turning and dashing toward the door.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" I shouted, running full speed out of the bus. As I rushed down the steps my foot caught on the edge. I felt my body falling, almost in slow motion as I braced myself for skinned knees and palms, my breathing hitched. But it was quickly evident that someone happened to be walking by at just the wrong time.
I heard a winded grunt as we collided, and instinctively I grabbed for his arms. He managed to solidly grab on to the small of my back as we both tumbled down onto the wet cement. My head hit the ground beneath me, connecting with a loud nasty sound, and I grabbed on to whatever was closest to my hands as my ears rang. I gasped in pain, my eyes shut tightly as my skull throbbed. After a few seconds the pain began to subside and I looked up through glossy eyes, seeing at first only a blur of flesh tones. I blinked away the tears and my vision cleared.
Hovering over me was a man much taller than me with dark hair and tattoos. My hands were gripping his forearms and he had one of his arms under me while the other propped him up. He wore an expression that was a mix of confusion and concern. I stammered for something to say, but I only felt the embarrassment begin to set in. My cheeks burned red and my stomach dropped as I realized all the people staring at us. They were murmuring as they stared, some moving towards us, chiming words of concern. I felt my voice catch in my throat, not knowing what to do other than turtle into myself, my chin hunkered low while my shoulders rose to my ears. I felt the tears brimming once more as the stinging on my head spread further and without thinking my grip on his arms tightened.
"I-I'm sorry," my voice was hoarse and trembling as things finally began to set in motion. Just as I began pulling myself up from underneath him he seemed to come back to reality, too. He swiftly stood and in one fluid motion grabbed my upper arm and pulled me up with him, almost effortlessly. Teetering, I found my balance and met his gaze.
"Are you okay?" he mumbled, letting go of my arm and sighing as he looked around at the people dispersing. My cheeks still burned, and I suddenly felt very small, and very shy.
"I… I am, thank you," my voice broke and I bit down on the inside of my cheek. I wished I could escape my own skin, I was stiff with nerves. Another pain shot through the back of my head and I winced, raising my hand to the spot I hit on the pavement. My skull was pounding as I felt a bump growing beneath my hair.
The man in front of me stared at me for a long moment before he reached towards me. I flinched back but he didn't falter. Grabbing my wrist, he turned and began leading me towards the bus terminal. His large hand fit easily around mine and once again I felt so small. I looked around in confusion, stammering as I struggled to keep up with his long strides. I quickly realized just how much taller than me he was. I stood at maybe five foot two, and he was easily six feet tall. I looked behind me to see a very confused Dan watching us from the bus door, mouthing words to me, probably wondering what was going on. I shrugged to him and motioned to the mysterious man dragging me away helplessly, my mouth gaping open and closed, unsure of what exactly was going on.
"U-um, excuse me, but-" he stopped suddenly, my face hitting his back. I scrambled backwards, tripping over myself. He looked down at me from over his shoulder and I grimaced towards the ground, trying to swallow the growing lump in my throat. Maybe it was the way we ran into each other, but I was getting increasingly more nervous with each second that passed, and I'm sure more red, with the way my face was burning.
"I just saw the tour doctor over here, it'll only be a minute to find him," his voice was low and gravelly, like he had just woken up. Continuing to walk, he still hadn't released my wrist from his grasp. It took all my energy to keep up with his long strides, and a dull ache had spread across my skull. I felt myself getting more tired, and instead of continuing to be incredulous, I simply accepted his help, my hand going limp as I trotted along behind.