The bus was parked in the parking lot outside Eclipse Records at 4:30am sharp. A full 30 minutes before Starbucks opened, because fuck me that's why. We have a show in Portland at 10 o'clock tonight to kick off the tour and, according to Rose, this was the absolute latest we could possibly leave and get there in time. Rosalie Hale had been our band manager for two years now and I loved her like family, but sometimes I think she's trying to kill me.
"What's the matter Jelly Belly," Emmett McCartey, our drummer, hollered — his voice way too loud and chipper for this ungodly hour. "You look like someone pissed in your cheerios."
"And you look like Satan," I grumbled, pulling the hood of my sweatshirt up, while we stood in the otherwise empty parking lot waiting for everyone else to show. Emmett shrugged, unfazed by my bad mood, and pulled a protein bar from his backpack.
Jasper Whitlock, our bass player, was the third member of our crew to show up and I was happy that Jasper was just as grumpy as I felt. That's a lie; Jasper doesn't do grumpy. However, he was quiet and sleepy looking so I would count that as a win. Technically, we could get on the bus and go back to sleep, but knowing the majority of our time over the next 9 months would be spent on that bus was ominous and no one wanted to spend a second longer on board than needed.
At least the bus would be an upgrade from the last tour. No more built in bunks and mini fridges; now we had bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small kitchen, and a decent sized sitting area to enjoy. Everyone had fought Alice and I for the big room, the one with its own bathroom, but we'd won out in the end. Emmett and Rosalie, who had gotten engaged a few months ago, were sharing one of the other rooms, and Jasper and Edward were sharing the third.
"Why are you guys standing out here," Alice asked, her voice way too perky so early in the morning. She and Emmett were two peas in a pod. Alice Brandon had only been the band's stylist for a few months and as the newest member of our traveling circus, she'd yet to be on tour with us. She still thought of it as an exciting and fun experience, which it was, but she didn't know how exhausting being on tour could be. She walked towards us, rolling two pink suitcases behind her and carrying a backpack, despite the several pieces of luggage she'd dropped off with the road crew last night, and Jasper hurried over to help her with them. Everyone knew Alice was smitten with Jasper; everyone except Jasper. It was only a matter of time though, seeing as the feeling was mutual.
"Enjoying our last moments of freedom," Emmett sighed wistfully and I nodded my agreement.
"Oh don't be so dramatic; thank you, Jasper," Alice smiled and Jasper tipped the cowboy hat he wore. He didn't wear the hat on stage, Rose wouldn't let him, but you'd be hard pressed to catch him without it otherwise.
"It's your first tour, Al, give it a few days," I responded and she shrugged.
"Am I last," Edward asked, his green eyes looking to Alice with a hint of surprise. I suppressed a laugh and nudged him when he came to stand beside me. It was a little surprising that Alice had beat him; we'd been taking bets last night on who would be the last to arrive. Now, I guess, no one won because the votes had landed between Edward, Alice, and I.
"Rose isn't here," I told told him and he looked at me like I'd grown two heads.
"Ms. If-You're-Late-I-Will-Leave-You isn't here yet," he asked and I choked on another laugh, shaking my head. "Hey Em, where's your woman," Edward hollered across the lot to where Emmett and Jasper were leaning against the tour bus, heading towards them and leaving me standing with Alice.
"I can't believe you're not more excited, Bella," Alice chirped the second Edward left.
"This is my third tour in two and a half years," I told her, by way of explanation.
"Yes, but 9 months on a tour bus with Green Eyes."
It took a second for Alice's words to sink in but when they did I choked on my own spit. "Alice, what the fuck?"
Alice giggled, "you think I don't see the way you look at him?"
"He's practically my brother." Even as I said the words I knew they were a lie. I was close with Edward, close with all the guys, but Emmett was like a brother — Edward was like… the really hot guy you know you can never have so you become his best friend instead. Of course, I wasn't ever going to say those words out loud.
"Eww," Alice said, making a mock gagging sound that actually made me hyper aware of my own gag reflex. It was way too early for shit like that; I swallowed a mouthful of saliva. "If that's the way you look at a practical brother, I'm really glad you don't have any actual brothers."
"Shut up," I half laughed, giving her a playful shove.
The sound of Rose's heels bounced off the asphalt and we all turned to look at her as she walked towards us, hands weighed down with drink carriers filled with Starbucks coffees. Yeeeessss. "You're late," Jasper teased and Rose glared at him.
"After the twenty-something text messages last night, I decided that I didn't want to start off the new tour with an uncaffeinated Bella," Rose replied and I grinned while everyone else laughed.
"You always were a smart woman, Rose," I told her and she rolled her eyes.
"Yes, I know; now can we get on the bus please? We're 45 minutes behind schedule and Alice is going to be doing your makeup in the back of a moving vehicle if we don't make up the time."
"You heard the woman, on the bus," I commanded, raising a hand in the air dramatically.
Once we were all on the bus, Rose handed the coffees to Emmett to pass out while she took one to the driver and then we were off. I liked touring, despite my complaints. It was a good way to travel without the stress of having to plan it, I left that up to Rosalie, and I got to spend a lot of time with all of my favorite people. Granted, they were really my only people because I'm kind of a hermit.
I met Jasper our Junior year of High School when I moved to Forks, our hometown, to live with my dad—Charlie. Jasper was the most recent new kid in a town of less than 4,000 residents, so he kind of took pity on me and took me under his wing. He and Emmett, who was a Senior at the time, were already friends and they liked to get together to jam in Emmett's garage sometimes. They invited me along a couple of times and that's when Emmett, Jasper, and I had started the band—the Is. Emmett moved to Seattle after graduation, where he met Edward, and now the Is has four records—one platinum and two multi-platinum. It'd been a crazy six years, but I wouldn't trade a second of it.
A/N: Hi guys! This is something fun I started and decided to share with you all. I have no time frame in mind for posts, but I do have a few chapters written and they've been coming fairly easy so let's hope it stays that way. I've been working a crazy amount lately and I'm in school, plus I have another fic I've been grossly neglecting. Any who, a lot of the songs I've been listening to while writing have been Avril Lavigne so you might see some of her songs here :P I own nothing Twilight and none of the music. I will make notes at the bottom of each chapter whenever a song is referenced so you know what songs I'm talking about for easy reference. If you're familiar with any of the songs you may be familiar with their stories and, if so, know that I make up my own stories for each song. However it felt to me from Bella/Edward's perspective, as I write.