I blinked at the scenery passing by outside the window as we traveled down the road. Our beat-up Astro Van was bouncing along in silence. Aside from Mystik, who was driving, and myself, all of the van's other occupants were asleep. I glanced around at my bandmates. In total, there were six of us. Together, we are Integrity Runs Screaming, a glam rock band.
There was Addy Yuki, or Raabis as I call her, who's our bassist. Her hair is a weird purple-maroon color and was cropped into a short scene style, which I did myself. She's seventeen, and about five and a half feet tall. Currently, she was curled up with Gir, her boyfriend and our drummer.
Gir has a blond military cut and is several inches taller than his girlfriend. He's cool. And he was also one day younger than Raabis.
Lounging beside the couple was Vesper Victoria, our female vocalist. She's part Native American with long black hair. She's also a midget, coming in at under five feet tall. She's like the band's mom.
On my side of the van laying next to me was Liz, our lead guitarist. She's very pretty with blond scene-cut hair that had pink stripes, and a slim frame. She's about five-seven and she's eighteen.
Then there's Mystik. He's the oldest, at nineteen, and also the tallest, at six-three. He's our rhythm guitarist. He's African-American with a flowing pink fro-hawk. He's like a big brother to Raabis and I.
Last was me. My name is Chhaya K. W. I am the male vocals/screamer for the band, as well as the primary songwriter, though Vesper and Raabis do occasionally help out. I'm about five-ten (though it changes frequently) and I'm sixteen years old. As I say, I'm slender, but Mystik says that I'm a stick. I have black hair and pale skin. My hair comes to roughly my collar bones and cut in a messy, shaggy scene style.
"You should try to get some sleep. We'll be there soon." Mystik said softly.
"You know I can't..." I murmured before reaching down with my free hand to pet Gamze. He had woken up when he heard my voice. Gamze is my pet wolamute (a wolf-malamute hybrid).
"You need to sleep," he said, glancing back at me. I could tell that he was worried about me. I not only have insomnia, but also issues with sleeping in a moving vehicle. We had been driving for the last three days straight. I haven't slept in four days.
"I'll be fine." I said. "I've gone longer than this without sleep." He looked like he didn't believe me, but he let it drop and turned his gaze back to the road.
"We'll be there soon," he said again. I pulled my phone out of my hoodie pocket and checked the time: 3:42 a.m.
We were on our way to L.A. We started out in Cleveland, Ohio. We're on our way to a meeting with a record agency. They contacted us asking if we would tour with one of their bands, because their previous opener had dropped out. So that's where we're going cross-country in a broken down van to meet the unknown band that we're opening for.
I looked back out the window. This is our chance, I thought. I love this band, I love our music, and I would do anything for them. They're my real family.