Chapter One: Lullabies
"Saru. Hey, wake up."
As much as he didn't want to, Saruno pulled his head up with a groan. "What do you want, Brandon?" He asked, but in a rude and fed up way.
Brandon crossed his arms. "No need to be rude, dude." He wasn't one for pointing out attitude, but being that Saruno was his best friend, he could be honest with him. "But didn't we, meaning the entire band, tell you not to put yourself in a pit? We're all here for you, but you're just locking yourself in your bunk with weed and bottles of vodka. The fans are even getting anxious about your behavior, man."
"Well, isn't is possible to... get over Breeze? I mea-"
Before Brandon could even finish his sentence, Saruno threw an empty bottle his way. "Don't even say shit like that, Brandon. How would you feel if you lost Reiya in an accident? You've been with her for five years, the same with me and Breeze. So until you know what it feels like to lose someone so close to you in a fucking instant, don't even try talking to me about getting over her." Saruno snapped before, but not like this. Especially not towards Brandon.
"You're drunk." Brandon just said as if Saruno never even said anything about the accident or Reiya. "Look, you're the one who is in lead of Broken Nonsense. We can't go on that stage without you. What's a song without lyrics?"
Saruno laid his head back down on his pillow. He didn't say anything at first, but after a minute or so, he pulled his head back up and gathered up enough force to pull himself out of his bunk. "I hate you. You know what would take me out of that bunk."
A laugh came from Brandon, he then showed a light smile. "Well, fans always matter, right? You were the one who said that to Tony when he was depressed except it would have been 'What's a song without a beat?'"
Saruno managed to crack a laugh. "Yeah.. Well, let's go. We have, what, four hours until the show starts? Everyone would have to take the time to prepare."
"Yeah." Brandon started. "But Jonathan said he had something to tell all of us. He's waiting backstage for us. He was waiting on you."
"Is it that important that he had to wait on me?"
"Apparently. Let's go."
Once Saruno and Brandon got off the tour bus, they made their way backstage to where the rest of Broken Nonsense were waiting. Tony, the drummer, was sitting on one of the spare amps. Jonathan, the rhythm guitarist, was on his phone. Alex, the bassist, was laying on the floor boredly. As soon as Alex heard footsteps, he lightly kicked Jonathan to break his attention away from his phone. "They're here." He simply said.
Jonathan locked his phone then looked up at Saruno and Brandon. "You feeling better, dude?" He asked Saruno.
"He almost killed me with a vodka bottle. I think he's good now." Brandon said, but in a joking way.
Saruno nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. 'Sup? You needed to tell us something?"
Jonathan straightened up. Tony and Alex both got up and gathered around. Once everyone was close, Jonathan spoke. "So, the tour manager said we were gonna tour with a band called Consellations after Warped. So we're gonna have to end up sticking with them during Warped. At least that's what Tren said."
"Aren't they a new band, though?" Brandon asked.
"If we have to babysit, I'm gonna yell at Tren." Tony complained.
Jonathan shook his head. "Warped is their first tour. I'm sure they have another band helping them. If not, then we might just be babysitting."
Saruno crossed his arms. "So, basically, Tren is dropping a noob band on us then put us on tour with them after Warped. What the hell, I started Broken Nonsense to tour and make music, not babysit a newbie band."
Just before anyone from Broken Nonsense could say anthing, a female spoke up. "We're not asking you to babysit, so calm your balls."
Eyes turned to a short female with lightened white hair and chestnut eyes. Everyone except for Jonathan had a confused look. So, Jonathan spoke up. "Guys, meet Ayana. One of the lead singers of Constellations."
"Oh, I am so not dealing with a chick." Alex started with a complaint. "Girls are fucking crazy. Especially when they hit that time of the month."
Ayana rolled her eyes. "It's either you deal with that or the psychopath side of me. I know how to kill you slowly so you'll die with agony."
"Hey." Saruno started. "There's no killing my bassist. He's just grumpy because he didn't get any morning vodka. So calm your tits, ma'am."
Brandon decided to pop into the conversation. "How old are you, Ayana?"
"Nineteen." A simple answer came from the girl.
"So here stands a nineteen-year-old covered in tattoos, has piercings, and has inch tunnels." Tony said observantly.
Saruno looked at the guys then back at the short female, who seemed to have an uninterested look towards this whole thing. Though he couldn't help but notice scars all over her from the neck down to her knees and all over her arms. His eyebrows knitted up. Just as he was about to say something, Ayana looked up at him.
"What are you staring at?" She asked him in an emotionless tone, arching a brow at him.
"Your tattoos." Saruno replied in the same tone of voice.
Brandon, Jonathan, Alex, and Tony looked at each other. Jonathan had that 'he-likes-her' look, but Brandon just gave that 'dude-no' look to him. Alex and Tony just gave each other the 'this-is-gonna-be-good' look.
There was an awkward kind of silence between the members of Broken Nonsense and Ayana. That is until the ringtone of the piano version of a Trophy Father's Trophy son began to ring. Ayana dug into her pocket and slid her thumb against the screen to answer the call.
"Hello?"
"Aya. Where are you? We have a show to play in an hour!"
"Calm down, Serani. I'll be there."
"Did you see that band that we're touring with after Warped?"
"Funny you mention them. I'm with them right now."
"Are they cool?"
"I'll tell you when I get back."
"Well, it better be soon. We're playing in a bit."
"Woman, you just said that. But I'll be there in a few minutes."
Ayana didn't wait for a reply, she just ended the call. After a few moments, she then looked back at the band before her. "Well, I gotta run. But I'm gonna stop by your show after I finish mine. See ya, guys." As she was talking, she was walking backwards. Once she had taken her longboard that was resting on the amp that Tony was sitting on earlier, she gave a salute to the men and skated off back to her side of the venue.
"Well," Brandon started. "She's something else."
"She's crazy, that's what." Alex added his opinion.
"I wonder what the rest of Constellations are like." Tony crossed his arms.
Jonathan looked over at Saruno. "Bro, you okay? You're quiet."
"She's a survivor, man." Saruno only said as a reply.
Brandon blinked. "You saw?"
"Why do you think I was staring, dork? She's covered in faded scars. She recently got her ink darkened to make them not noticable." Saruno explained.
"How would you know?" Alex asked, but he only got a look from Brandon and Saruno.
Jonathan hit Alex behind the head. "Dummy. Saru would know more about that than any of us."
For a few minutes, Alex and Jonathan were bickering like idiots. Tony stood there and rolled his eyes. Brandon walked up to Saruno. "Hey, you wanna go see the girl's show?"
Saruno looked back at his raven-haired friend. "I was thinking that."
Brandon nodded. He then looked back at the two bickering members. "Hey, we're gonna go see Ayana's show. Don't do anything stupid while we're gone."
"They're just gonna keep at this until we have to perform. Just go chill. I'll be here." Tony said from behind the two.
Saruno and Brandon took a their time walking around Warped. Meeting up with fans, seeing other band members, signing stuff, the usual life of a band member during Warped. It wasn't until an hour and a half later that they got to the stage Constellations were playing at. They got to sit back stage and watch them play.
"It's a girl group kind of band." Brandon said, leaning on an unplugged amp.
Saruno nodded. "Yeah. And they have a cover performance today. That's O.G. Loko by Of Mice & Men."
"How does she scream like that? Wouldn't it hurt her?"
"Guess she knows how to do it right without hurting your throat."
The two members of Broken Nonsense stopped talking as they watched the performance. Saruno mentally admitted that the girls were good at what they were doing. It impressed him. But then he saw her take a deep breath after finishing the song.
"Okay, I want everyone who came to see Constellations today just do some kind of thing of moving." Ayana said into the microphone. She saw almost the entire crowd do either a shuffle or raise their fists. There was one person the crowd who caught her attention. "This little shit right here," She started, pointing at that person. "climbed one of the lights just to hold up a sign saying we were fags and flipped us off."
"Oh shit." Saruno and Brandon said at the same time.
"You know what, sir? Fuck you. I have to waste my performance time on a little piece of shit like you because you're too much of an ignorant motherfucker to waste money just to tell us all that. No one needs your bullshit. Warped is for those who want to be with people who are labeled outcasts, not for dumbasses like you who have biceps for brains. If you have something to say about that, come up here and fight me." This was Ayana's first show that she had to deal with people like that. she hoped she didn't have to, but she did. Which is why she was so pissed. She saw that person just walk out of the crowd, which made her laugh. "I like that he could have came up on this stage and beat up a nineteen-year-old, but he was just being an ignorant pussy. NOW! Who else wants to enjoy the rest of the show?" Once she threw that question out there, she recieved excited screams from the crowd. It made her smile. "Alright then, it's your turn to sing this one. I'm sure everyone knows it. This one's called Hold On 'Til May by Pierce The Veil." After saying that, she dropped her microphone as soon as the guitarist started playing the intro.
As the song started, Saruno's eyes narrowed down to the ground. Brandon immediately caught up on that notion and he had to ask. "Bro, what's wrong?"
Saruno sighed. "Breeze loved this song.." He said in a low voice.
"If you were me, you'd do the same
'Cause I can't take anymore
I'll draw the shades and close the door
Everything's not alright and I would rather..."
Saruno looked up. Though everyone in the crowd was singing at the top of their lungs, he heard Ayana's voice crack at that one part. No one would understand how he felt after hearing that. He already saw the scars on her, but her voice cracking, it made his heart sink. And the mere fact she's strong enough not to break down and cry in front of everyone. He could never do something like that, especially after the accident.
